Chance
by AmareFortis
Summary: Sakura had often dreamt of the day he would return and what it would mean for them both but fate had a different idea. She was going to learn the hard way that the biggest lesson in life is not only to be grateful for having eyes, ears and a mouth, but to use them properly too. [SasukeXSakura] [Post-War Pre-Gaiden]
1. Chapter 1

Story summary:

Sakura had often dreamt of the day he returned and what it would mean for them both but fate had a different idea. She was going to learn the hard way that the biggest lesson you can learn in life is not only to be grateful for having eyes, ears and a mouth, but to use them properly too.

Kindly note: Minor OC involvement

Author's notes:

It's been over ten years since I last came to FanFiction and a friend of mine once jokingly said that once you get a taste of this community, you'll never truly leave it. How true!

So here I am, presenting to you my first piece of writing in over 10 years! Go easy on me please haha!

This SasuSaku fiction is set post-war and pre-Gaiden and addresses the idea of how Sasuke and Sakura might have gotten together. I've decided to indulge in some good old fashioned drama, ditching the darker plotlines, and focusing entirely on stirring some emotions… (I hope!).

I've actually typed up about half of this fiction in really rough short hand, but only properly edited and cleaned up the chapter below so I'm really eager to see and know what you guys think!

Without further ado, I present to you…

 **Chance**

The light spring breeze drifted in through her open window and gently blew against her face. One arm propped up her head as she sat behind her desk in her office with closed eyes. Sakura was allowing herself a brief moment or two to simply indulge in the presence of her own company before she got back to working on the coming year's annual budget submission for Konoha Hospital. In the haze of her mediation she drowned out the hum of the bustling village and glimmers of jet black hair gently swaying in the breeze could be seen behind her eyelids.

Opening her eyes she stared absentmindedly to the vast book collection on the other side of her office. Her eyes roamed over the colourful spines of all the medical textbooks she had studied over the years of her training however she wasn't seeking out a particular book. Truth be told she had been nothing short of distracted as of late because some days ago Uchiha Sasuke had returned from his long journey of repentance.

His return didn't quite happen the way she dreamt it would. Firstly, she wasn't there to greet him, not because she didn't want to be there but because no one was informed of his return to the village. There was strict instruction that only certain ANBU and Naruto would meet him at the gate and take him to a secure holding location, namely prison. In prison he was to remain isolated with no visitors being permitted.

She had learned he was coming back from Naruto who knew better than to keep this secret from Sakura. It seemed that Naruto he had received a message from Sasuke saying he was returning and shortly after this, a group decision had been taken that Sasuke had to be independently assessed to ensure he didn't pose a threat to the village. Even though Naruto and Sakura knew that he was done with those demons of his past, it didn't mean everyone agreed. Sakura knew for a fact that even people like Shikamaru held some reservations about Sasuke and it was important to make sure everyone adjusted to his return in as positive a manner as possible.

So he remained in a holding cell and underwent questioning for 4 days. Two members of ANBU and Ibiki Morino were conducting the interrogation and it was advised that Naruto was not present for this. Naruto having understood the delicacy of the situation did not protest. For Sakura however, it plagued her thoughts to know that he was back and she couldn't even see him. She was trusting in Naruto once again to ensure his safe passage back into his home and whilst she didn't like that she was once again placing such a burden on Naruto's shoulders, on this occasion it truly was all out of her hands. There was some relief at least in that at the end of every night Naruto would drop her a message saying "all okay" to imply that each day of interrogation had gone well.

After the days of interrogation came the isolated psychometric testing and paperwork. For this he still remained in the holding cell as he completed the paperwork and testing, all of which took a further 3 days. However Sakura understood it was a far more relaxed atmosphere as they tried to understand where his alliances, aims and goals stood now. Additionally, she found out that things could potentially be wrapped up and finished after this psychometric testing so that he could finally be completely pardoned.

She lifted herself from her desk and stretched her arms over her head, gently tilting from side to side. Smoothing down her top and skirt she closed a few folders on her desk, reached for her keys to lock her office and wandered over to Naruto's office in the Hokage tower.

The weather was remarkably beautiful and pleasant for June. Normally the heat would be so humid and heavy that people would make a point of avoiding being outside at this time of the day. It seems this year they might have escaped a particularly difficult summer heat.

As she approached the tower she was greeted by many civilians and fellow shinobi. After the war Sakura Haruno had become one of the most recognised shinobi for all her efforts to heal the wounded but also in helping Naruto and Sasuke in defeating Kaguya. She'd even coined a nickname of 'one punch wonder woman' as she delivered the final blow to the creator of all chakara. So as she walked through the village it wasn't uncommon for her to receive polite and respectful greetings. Sometimes she even had to stop for the occasion confession that was delivered to her. Truly she was flattered and if not a little saddened since deep in her heart she knew no confession out there was enough to change how she felt in her heart.

As she entered the building and walked up the winding stairs to the first floor she wondered what said man had discovered about this world on his journey and perhaps more importantly whether and what he had learnt about himself. Who was he now? Why come back now?

Standing outside Naruto's office she knocked and heard Naruto beckoning her inside. The purpose of this visit was not social, rather Sakura was there to discuss her upcoming budget submission for the hospital. It was Naruto that told her to come at that particular time during the day, presumably the number of meetings he had to conduct was steadily increasing in anticipation of the full budgetary review.

"Sakura-chan!" He tilted his head to look around a particularly dangerous tall pile of papers sat on his desk and she smiled.

"Naruto. Every time I visit that pile of papers on your desk gets taller and taller."

He groaned and sunk back into his chair, "You don't need to remind me. I swear I'm working as hard and fast as I can but these damned requests come through even faster!"

She giggled, "Well is this the part I tell you that pile is about to get the tiniest bit taller since I'm nearly done with my budget submission?"

"I'm just going to burn it all. An accidental fire, what a shame."

She cackled once, "What's the matter _Hokage-sama_ , can't handle the pressure of your job?"

At this he jumped straight out of his chair with the cheekiest grin plastered all over his face and looked her dead in the eye with his piercing blue gaze, "No way Sakura-chan".

She tilted her head and smirked, "Good to know. So my entire budget request will get accepted then? Excellent!".

She watched beads of sweat trickle down his head and sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "I don't see a reason for your budget request submissions to _all_ get rejected Sakura-chan."

"None of them should be rejected Naruto, the hospital needs this cash injection to keep functioning and to keep up all the research we are doing surrounding chakara manipulation and impersonation!" Hands on her hips she mockingly looked incredibly angry.

Sakura knew she would potentially have some push back on her requests, after all no one gets everything they ask for at budget time, but she knew she was going to fight for every single penny she could. Besides a little bit of acting and dramatic antics couldn't hurt her case.

"Ahh, you know if I could I'd give you all the money you need I would, and well, I'm not entirely sure how much we have to play with this coming year but I know that it's tight." He was scratching his head and Sakura could see the clogs in his mind turning slowly. Of course he wouldn't have a total grasp of the budgeting process, not yet anyway, he'd only just become Hokage.

A soft smile graced her lips and her heart felt warm knowing that everything he'd worked hard for as a child had manifested in his dream coming true. To be acknowledged, to be Hokage and saving Sasuke. Naruto was truly something else.

"Hey… Naruto… is he…?"

Naruto's stature shifted and his face somewhat hardened, "He is actually-"

Before he could finish he was interrupted by a knock at his door and he beckoned them in. Sakura turned to the door to see two ANBU agents walking with their hands resting on a tied up and blindfolded Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura felt like she'd just been punched. She had no idea that he was coming here. Her lips parted as she stood rooted to spot and took the sight in.

He stood in the center of the office between two ANBU agents in a white restraining coat. His head was cast slightly down as his field of vision was covered by a black leather band. Just as she had often dreamt, his black hair beautifully framed his face as it gently swayed with the light breeze in the room. His right arm was crossed over his front courtesy of the binding he was in whilst the left sleeve was lightly pinned across him too. He wore his usual loose black trousers and black sandals. Little things she'd started noting without realising included the fact that his hair was slightly longer than usual and his skin more tanned.

She hadn't realised she was holding her breath until Naruto spoke up from behind her, "I presume everything is to your and your colleague's satisfaction Ibiki?"

Ibiki's eyes glanced over to Sakura briefly and she knew she had to leave. Naruto probably broke protocol calling her here to discuss the budget just as Sasuke was coming to his office. Now his insistence on being prompt on the time to talk about "the budget" made sense.

For Sakura, it was torturous and relieving all the same to have finally seen him and now to have to leave. She was desperate to know how everything was proceeding, what did he say, was he staying for good? Maintaining her composure both mentally and physically was becoming difficult as she noted she was experiencing symptoms like heart palpitations, sweaty palms, blurring vision.

She slowly turned to Naruto to both plead to look after Sasuke but also to silently bid him goodbye with just a glance. She knew she had to get out of there. As she walked, she felt like she might choke on her emotions swelling in her throat. She was getting closer to him as she went for the door when Naruto softly spoke, "We'll see you soon Sakura-chan."

At the mention of her name she could see Sasuke's head twitch slightly upwards. She paused. She was now standing right in front of him. Should she speak up? No, now wasn't the time for that, there were also too many people in the room which she was trying not to forget about in her dazed state. So she started walking again and was finally out of Naruto's office.

As she shut the door behind herself her hand instantly reached to the wall to support her and she allowed herself a second or two to catch her breath before quickly hurrying out of the Hokage Tower. She had to get as far away from that room as possible, it was like an instinctual self-defending function that had kicked in. She hurried back to safety of her own office in Konoha Hospital.

Slamming the door behind her with a little more force than necessary she braced herself up with her palms flat against the door for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. What in the hell had gotten into her? She knew Sasuke was back in the village so this surprise meeting shouldn't have caught her so off guard. She wasn't in control of her thoughts or emotions so she went to sit behind her desk. Head in her hands she was struggling to rationalise how she felt.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed but she was at least grateful she had successfully calmed down. Unfortunately that didn't mean she had had a productive afternoon. She could barely concentrate as she begun to hear the whispers of his return spread like wild fire amongst all the hospital's staff. Most of the day she found herself in a trance-like state, replaying his figure in her mind as she sat at her desk drumming her fingers along her desk. By 6:30pm she decided to call it quits and went home. There was no message from Naruto that night and she didn't find that to be such a bad thing.

That night she dreamt of fields of golden barley in the dead of night dancing from left to right as a storm brewed. One solitary Sakura tree stood tall in the middle of the field. With one all-mighty strike, a burst of lighting set the tree alight.

The stage has been set!

What did you think? I humbly could not thank you enough if you chose to leave me a review.

As I mentioned it's been over 10 years since I came back to the FanFiction community and I don't think I realised how much I missed the feeling of writing and hearing feedback what people think. And most importantly I sincerely hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Any writer will know that the true goal isn't just to get their plotline out there, but to stir something within a reader.

Also be warned, I love a good bit of drama in any romance so be warned, **drama ahead**!

Thank you

M


	2. Chapter 2

A huge thank you to the reviews I received from: TheSassyAssassin, In the Darkest of Nights, SSSerine86, Bsmiles123, Marsmallowa. You all have no idea how much motivation your reviews gave me to find time between work to write up and proof read this next chapter.

Without further ado…

* * *

 **Chance: Chapter 2**

Small streams of light shone through her dark maroon curtains into her dimly lit room. Sakura lay a tangled mess with her pale pink bed sheets looping in and around her limbs. Her eyes slowly adjusting to her awoken state, they gazed forward to her dresser with no acknowledgement of what was being seen. Her eyes were looking but not necessarily seeing. She raised a hand and ran through her pink tresses, snagging an occasional knot. The jarring of her hair's roots only further serving to wake her up.

Sakura knew her alarm hadn't gone off yet judging by the level of lighting in her room. Her mind, though not completely awake, was more focused on the dream she had last night as she knew that personally her dreams were always insights into her subconscious. It was surprising to see such a dark metaphor last night.

With regards to Sasuke, Sakura had laid all her demons to rest, or at least she thought she had done. Did her dream mean she was still scared of him? She'd really like to believe that she had no fear of him as a person but perhaps her body could not forget its primal nature and will to survive. After all it was not that long ago that Sasuke had held her in a choke hold and tried to kill her. Perhaps the shock of seeing him without any notice had scared her so much that on some sort of subconscious level she was scared of him. Even though he'd recently left her with a parting that was so much more sincere, it still danced along a dark insecurity she'd always had concerning him. What if she let him in and he hurt her again physically, mentally or emotionally?

She frowned slightly as she realised his return and her feelings towards his return were not as she had expected. She'd often dream of him returning in the dead of night and her greeting him affectionately. Sometimes these dreams got a little more passionate, but overall she'd always wake up with this longing feeling to see him and to touch him. That wasn't the case last night. She knew her feelings for him hadn't waived, if anything her love for him grew stronger as she struggled with the idea that she couldn't help him face his final greatest battle, self-discovery. So why was she feeling this sensation of fear?

She sighed and rolled herself over to sit upright on the edge of her bed, then stretched her legs out forward and her arms above her head. Perhaps she should take things slower and not read too much into the dream. Ino had always told her that when it came to Sasuke she had a significant issue of overthinking. Maybe it really was just the shock of seeing him and being caught off guard that threw her into a deep pool of her darkest fears. And she wasn't in this alone, she had Naruto too. Whilst their brotherly friendship was a different dynamic, I'm sure he could at least sympathise and relate to some of the nerves she might have been feeling.

There and then she had decided that a visit to Naruto was in order and with that she rushed to her small en suite to have a quick shower. Moving at a pace that didn't allow her to even think for a second, she got dressed and rushed out of her apartment to start heading to the Hokage Tower.

As she was just at the bottom of her apartment complex's stairwell she heard a familiar voice call out, "Sakura-sama!"

As she turned around she saw the familiar face of a junior doctor Otomo Fuji.

"Ah, Fuji good morning! Are you well?"

Otomo Fuji had been one of her junior doctors for about two years now and in her eyes he had a lot of potential. She was hoping over the next five years she could train him into someone who she could feasibly hand over a lot of her key responsibilities to. His surgical skills were somewhat average but his lateral thinking and creativity with regards to treatments and research was incredible. She was hoping that with his help on some of her research it was going to speed up how quickly she could wrap up and deliver a lot of her own findings.

"I was just going to the Hokage Tower for the Junior Doctor seminar you recommended on the disruption of cellular boundaries post high frequency oscillatory therapy. I agreed to help set everything up in advance of it all."

"Ahh yes, I really think it'll be useful for you to attend, and that's good of you to help out!"

He smiled, "I also wanted to see if I had time to go up to the archive room and go through the records on infusion of chakara paths. Those anomalies you found in the data might just be dealt with if we could get our hands on some more data."

Sakura had been meaning to do just that in the archive room a few weeks back but never had the time to get round to actually doing it. She was quietly impressed he was paying such close attention to her work. It reminded her that she wanted to give some kind of reward to Fuji for such diligence because absolutely none of her other juniors paid attention to her work the way Fuji did.

Glancing down at her watch she remembered that she wasn't doing too badly for time today so it could be possible to quickly rummage through the archived files. "I might be able to squeeze in a bit of time to look through the files before my errand this morning. You focus on helping set up the seminar. Let's go Fuji."

He smiled, nodded and they head off. Fuji was a shinobi from a civilian family so the drive to become a medical shinobi was something Sakura could easily relate to. From the corner of her eye Sakura glanced over to his mop of dark brown curly hair that complimented his Mediterranean skin tone so well. Couple that with his black eyes and incredible height, it was no wonder why Fuji was so popular with the ladies. He'd explained to her previously that as a child he was an avid swimmer and it had resulted in him being taller than the average person his age. She always noticed his height when they walked side by side. It took her back to her own fond memories of seeing Naruto and Sasuke grow to be so tall over the years.

With those fond memories fleeting in her mind now as they walked over to the Hokage Tower she could feel yet another blossom of feelings towards Sasuke in her heart. It wasn't eradicating the fear that was nestled there but it was at least giving her some confidence in every stride she took. Whatever was the meaning behind her apprehension of seeing Sasuke, she had to stay strong if she was going to have any chance of rekindling their bond and maybe, just maybe, she could have the chance to address her unwavering love towards the raven-haired man.

As they approached the Tower, Fuji bid Sakura goodbye and she climbed the stairs heading to the archive room which was also conveniently located on the same floor as the Hokage's office. Her initial motivation to come to the Hokage Tower might have been to seek some solace with Naruto however she felt better about using this trip to also do some work. As she climbed the stairs she approached the archive room and entered.

The room itself was row after row of large filing cabinets archiving all data and historical records that were deemed too old to be needed for repeated referencing. It was probably one of the largest rooms in the Hokage Tower boasting incredibly high ceilings. Whist not a library it was always common courtesy to be quiet in this room.

Sakura walked over to the reception desk located just in front of the entrance to the archive room. To use the room you had to obtain clearance to access the records of your choice and not all records were accessible to all shinobi.

"Medical filings. Sakura Haruno."

"Good afternoon Haruno-sama. I'm afraid that section 21 is currently inaccessible as its undergoing routine record checking."

She frowned as she realised routine record checking never was a one day job. "Just my luck. Do you know when they started the checking process?"

"Just this morning I'm afraid Haruno-sama."

Sakura sighed, they probably had at least one, maybe even two, weeks of work ahead of them if they only just started today. This was only going to delay her research ever more.

She bid the receptionist a polite goodbye and turned back around to leave. It wasn't the greatest annoyance in the world, but rather unlucky instead. She paused before the large mahogany doors to allow others who were entering to pass and then made her way out.

Following the corridor and bearing left to continue down the hallway she caught sight of Naruto's office door and it was slightly ajar. Someone was clearly finishing off an early meeting with him and coming out.

As she walked over she sees Sasuke stepping out.

She stops dead in her tracks in light of yet another unexpected meeting. It seemed like he hadn't noticed her yet. Her eyes locked on to him and she couldn't bring herself to look away nor make a sound. The light purple inner lining of his cloak was briefly visible as it slowly swayed with his movements. It was the only dash of colour in the sea of black he wore as he closed the door behind himself. Taking note once again of his longer hair, she traced the lining of his jaw down to his chin and then glanced up to his lips. Really the man was beyond dangerously handsome.

"Sakura."

She was startled from her day dream, rooted to the spot a few metres away from him.

"Sasuke-kun…"

He was looking directly at her now. She opened her mouth to speak and took one step forward but nothing came of it. Her throat seized up, her foot had taken one step forward before it felt like her calf muscles had turned to stone. It was happening again. She could feel it more clearly now in his presence, she wasn't necessarily scared of him, she was just scared. What was she supposed to say? Who was he now? All of these years of searching for him and loving him from afar and he still left her. Where did she fit into his life and where did he fit into hers? Curse her mind, how could she stop all of this over thinking?

Sasuke meanwhile wasn't expecting to have seen Sakura again so soon. As he came out of Naruto's office and closed the door, the sound of footsteps had alerted him to someone's presence. Honing in, he began to scope out the chakara and was surprised to find it to be Sakura's.

He knew his return was going to be difficult for a lot of people to adjust to but at least it seems like he'd done enough to prove his intentions to senior shinobi and representatives of Konoha. Naruto had distinctly warned him however that there will be some in the village who will certainly protest his return. Sasuke wasn't so fussed about the general public's opinion of him. Much like his older brother, he was going to assume a position that watched over the innocent. Whether they were fond of him or not was not something he had the right to indulge in and try to change. For now his focus was ensuring enduring peace.

That didn't mean however he was entirely indifferent to everyone around him. At the mention of Sakura's name a few days ago as he was bound up in Naruto's office, he felt a sensation somewhat akin to anxiety. What were her thoughts of him after all this time he'd been away? When Naruto had mentioned her name as he stood their bound up, he began to focus in on her. He could sense her having approached him and standing so close to him. He was relieved that he could feel no animosity towards him but he could sense some kind of apprehension which was unexpected. Sasuke was still human and the prospect of losing one of his already few bonds was somewhat disconcerting. He also acknowledged that the fact that the bond in question was that with Sakura made things different because Sakura was always a different story to him.

He wasn't sure how it had happened but he'd developed a strong urge and sense of over protectiveness of her dating back to the days of when they were children. Whether it was when Gaara held her captive in crushing sand, when he'd awoken to her having been beaten up in the forest during their examination, when they all went on their first real mission in Land of the Waves and he heard her cry out as Naruto and him were trapped in the cage of mirrors, Sasuke had always felt this sensation of needing to look after her, and this never seemed to truly stop. He never even noticed how dear she had become to him in such a short period of time.

Even after the war with Kaguya, just before he challenged Naruto to what would have been their final fight, he chose to place Sakura under Genjitsu to stop her from following them and coming into harm's way. During his time when he was within the darkest of mind sets, he recognised that whilst the bond was a tie to a failed past, it was a bond he couldn't sever. His intentions of a mass revolution still somewhere along the lines made allowance for her presence close by to him. She would never be so disruptive of his plans the way Naruto would, if anything he wanted to see if she would slowly adjust to his way of thinking.

It was something he reflected over a lot during his travels and it often resulted in him missing Konoha and his old teammates. Sometimes, although he'd never admit it, he wished he'd let her come with him but he knew that to be a selfish request and ultimately didn't want to burden her. His sins were his to atone for.

That was partially the reason why he told her "maybe next time" as they stood at the gates and bid each other goodbye. He wanted her to know that her company would have just made his journey of repentance more pleasurable and that was not the point of this journey. He also thought that the man he was then was not fit to stand beside her or to call himself Naruto's best friend. For both their sakes he had to become someone better.

Now, he could clearly see himself as a different person to the man driven by hatred, anger and revenge. It was a perplexing feeling to acknowledge these other emotions after having locked them away for so long and he also recognised that he was going to have to work on these bonds. Seeing Sakura's hesitation now only served to prove this point. While there was a time he was willing to so flippantly walk away from her, now he found himself somewhat worried after all he had put her through. He had a lot to make up for.

With this resolve in mind Sasuke begins to walk over to Sakura, crossing the distance to stand right in front of her.

She tilts her head back as he approaches, each of them watching the other. As he stands in front of her and looks down at her, she thinks she sees his eyebrow gently rise for a moment and his gaze soften.

Sakura digging deep and finding her courage forces her voice, "Is everything done now..?"

She was referencing his process of being let back into the village.

"Ah."

She was so relieved and didn't even realise that all paralysing emotions she felt before were instantly cast aside. She didn't know how she would have coped if he had been exiled. Her hands gently came up to her lips somewhat masking her smiling face. This was the moment she had dreamt of so often. She wanted to welcome him home, throw her arms around him and kiss him. At that last thought she blushed quite a bit and averted her eyes to the side. Sasuke however noticed the tinge of red staining her cheeks.

Clearing her throat she continued, "Is someone still in there with Naruto?" Desperately trying to change her train of thought.

"Ahh, Naruto and Hyuga-san are with some ANBU discussing some on-goings in the outskirts of Sand."

Sakura had heard about this from Naruto. There was a small group of shinobi that for some reason had broken off from ranks and whilst there didn't appear to be any immediate threat there was some unease about what was going on.

Sakura nodded, "Are they telling you this in light of sending you on a mission there?"

"I've not been assigned anything formally yet but I suspect that will happen soon if Naruto gets his way."

"A solo reconnaissance mission certainly isn't the worst first mission to get assigned."

"Hmph. Not if Naruto has anything to do with this." Sakura raised an eyebrow confused and Sasuke continued, "He is trying to weasel out of his duties to get the entire Team 7 together to do this mission."

Sakura's eyes widened and she smiled, "Oh well that would be incredibly reminiscent wouldn't it? Although I think he's fighting a losing battle there. As Hokage there's no way he'll get to just casually go on missions anymore."

"Probably for the best, he'd only weigh us down."

Sakura giggled and Sasuke smirked.

"True, although he does pull his weight _occasionally_. _"_

"Hmph. All I remember is Naruto being a magnet for trouble."

"He certainly had the effect of a magnet on you..."

Sasuke frowned and looked down on her.

"You guys have kissed, what twice?"

Sasuke's eyes blugged and Sakura cackled. She couldn't help it. She still hadn't realised her fears had been hushed to the back of her mind and that she was conversing with Sasuke so easily. She just had the sudden urge to mess with him. When she heard all those years ago that there was another incident during one of their genin missions where they once again kissed she just _had_ to tease him.

"Naruto told you about that? That idiot, who else did he tell?"

Sakura who had descended into laughter after seeing his expression was trying to regain her composure. She shook her head, "I think it was just me he told… your secret is safe."

Sasuke sighed, his right hand came to his face to partially cover the scowl. "I used to think every one of those incidents was some kind of divine punishment. Why always with him?"

Sakura chuckled and a small pause followed. She looked up at Sasuke, knowing full well that she could tease him about who he'd rather have kissed but she couldn't do it. She knew Sasuke had zero interest in her back then romantically and she didn't want to bring up that chapter in their lives once again.

The way she was feeling as they casually spoke reaffirmed to her that she was always going to love him, whether or not his romantic interest in her potentially remained at zero. It was a fact she was probably going to dwell on more now that he was back in the village and she very much recognised how vulnerable that left her. There would be no doubt that Ino would have a thing or to say about this.

"What brings you here?" Sasuke asked, pulling her out of yet another day dream.

"Oh, I was just over at the archive room looking for some old data on some shinobi we treated here and some subsequent research about 4 years or so ago."

"Is it some kind of pre-mission intelligence gathering?"

"No. I spotted an anomaly in some treatment methods of infused-chakara paths and I was trying to get to the bottom of what had happened back then but…"

"But?"

"I've been looking for this data in quite a few different databases we have in the village. I didn't manage to get into the archive room today but I have a silent suspicion I'm not going to find what I'm looking for. Hospital records, ANBU active records, they both have zero traces of the initial research that was done on the subject matter and I can't understand why. Plainly put, if anyone started looking now I have a feeling that they would find none of the records."

"The only thing that is any proof they existed is my memory. They might have just been some of the records lost in the chaos of the war, but to not have a single trace of them in three different database sources is unusual. The after effects of the war on our infrastructure might be more significant than most of us are currently aware of or there is foul play."

"But with regards to my research, if I could get my hands on those records and the results, at least I have a starting point with which to investigate the effects of varying treatments on-". She stopped because as she was talking she glanced back at him briefly and the sight of him staring at her was a little unnerving. She supposed he would always have this effect on her. She stopped talking, feeling incredibly embarrassed since he probably had no interest in this whatsoever.

"Oh sorry. I'm rambling." She laughed and nervously scratched the back of her head feeling her cheeks beginning to turn red again.

"Not at all." He looked down at her with what yet again looked like an almost endearing expression. She decided she was going mad. The Sasuke that she knew didn't show expressions like that. Could his journey of redemption have changed him?

"Sakura-san, I found you!"

Sakura turned around, Fuji was running over to her and stopped right by her catching his breath.

"Fuji, what are you doing, you should be in-"

"Sakura-san, it's bad. It's _really_ bad. Anko-san just came in downstairs looking for me and told me the surgery on Mikoromi…to repair her left lung… its _collapsed_ -! She was going to go to your office now and I told her you were-"

"We are going to the hospital now." Sakura interrupted him without hesitation.

She turned to Sasuke and he saw how her demeanour had changed in a split second. She had a look of determination in her eyes that looked far from tame. It almost made her eyes just the slightest shade darker of green.

"Go." He said.

She didn't need telling twice. She was flying down the hallway towards to window and jumped out heading over to the hospital with Fuji following suit.

Sasuke watched her disappear with a slight smirk on his face. Sakura had changed, he knew this from their time on the battlefield during the war, but now he was paying attention to her. More than anything he was rather eager to get to know her better and observe these changes, that is, if she gave him the chance to.

With that in mind he turned and set off to leave Hokage Tower. Once again he began to reflect on his current situation. Glancing down to his only remaining hand, he flexed his fingers and drew them back into a fist as he pondered the implications of this impairment.

Over the course of his journey he encountered a few not so serious fights with small bandits and noticed that in hand-to-hand combat situations using his long sword without his other arm was proving a nuisance at times. It was one of the few times on his travels he considered seeking the help of the other shinobi that he had grown up alongside as a child. He had a vague recollection a few were well versed with short-range weaponry. Of course this would entirely depend on how they received his return to the village.

Whilst he wasn't seeking acceptance as such, a small part of him had made a silent promise in his heart the day his arm was torn off. Sasuke wanted to make that vision of him standing next to Naruto, Sakura and everyone else true. It was a goal that was going to take some work but this time, instead of shouldering the burden by himself, he would seek help from his friends and hopefully with Naruto and Sakura's help, reaching that goal wasn't that far away.

* * *

The first official interaction between Sasuke and Sakura! I guess I'd say this chapter was still setting the stage a bit which I know might be a tad bit frustrating but I really want to get the fear, anxiety, apprehension, eagerness and determination that is being felt across to everyone reading.

I really felt for Sakura when Sasuke left again, can you imagine the subtle dark thoughts that must have festered in her mind as she witnessed the beginnings of her friends getting together? You can probably already tell but this fear and apprehension she has is entirely stemming from those insecurities she might never have ever truly acknowledged.

And then there is the socially inept Sasuke. He has come back clearly on a mission to strengthen his bonds with Naruto, Sakura and the other shinobi he grew up with, but the question is how is he going to approach this?

Also, I'm aware I'm just sort of repeating myself here, but thanks so much for the reviews. I felt like a giddy child bouncing on the spot with every review that came through. I missed this feeling so much! Knowing that somewhere in this vast world, you guys are reading this story and somehow we are kind of connected!

So if it's not too much to ask, I'd love to know what current and new readers are thinking, so please review!

Hope everyone had a good week!

M


	3. Chapter 3

_This week an incredible number of you wonderful readers followed and favourited this story and I'm a little overwhelmed. Thank you for your interest, it means more than you know._

* * *

 **Chance: Chapter 3**

The surgery had been difficult but it was nothing Sakura couldn't handle. In the time between her and Fuji reaching the operating theatre substantial blood loss had taken place and the lung's structural integrity was almost entirely gone. Thanks to the entire surgical team's efforts under Sakura's guidance they managed to stabilise the patient, repair the cell structures in both lungs and conduct a blood transfusion.

Surgery had finished at around three in the morning and taking pity on Fuji and the rest, Sakura had given everyone the day off given the extreme circumstances of the surgery. She however, five hours later, was there in her office mulling over her work with less than two hours of sleep and a slight case of chakara exhaustion. She wasn't wearing her usual working attire, that was too muddied with blood that had accidentally soaked through her surgical coating. So when she did eventually get back to her apartment she simply grabbed a tightly fitted black tank top and black shorts.

Sakura had grown accustomed to late surgeries and throwing herself into work the next day but her mind was somewhat less sharp than usual and she blamed her encounter with Sasuke.

Leaning back in her chair she stared up to her ceiling. Sasuke had a different feeling about him and she couldn't describe it. He was still rather short in his conversation but he was definitely more open as a person. He seemed somewhat more aware of her and she couldn't help her heart skipping a beat at that prospect. She wasn't deluding herself into thinking it was love but for Sasuke even to acknowledge her, it was a good sign, right?

All these years as she's continued loving him she knew the overwhelming risk that Sasuke might never love her back. His departure from the village didn't fill her with confidence that he would love her romantically, but just that there was some hope that maybe he could. This was her greatest fear and she didn't doubt that it would cripple her if she was flatly rejected by him today. She also didn't dare allow herself to think of him marrying another woman as the pain of those thoughts were beyond paralysing.

Her hand lifted to cover her eyes as she berated herself for once again being so vulnerable towards him. She had to protect herself more when it came to loving him because it had caused her so much pain in the past and had the potential to ruin her in the future.

But was it so wrong to want to hope that someday he could look at her as a woman? That maybe if she continued to wait and to pursue him he might just swing around? Logically she knew that was not a good enough reason. It definitely didn't help that she couldn't see herself with any other man. There had been plenty of fine shinobi and civilians who had approached her but her heart just couldn't waiver from Sasuke.

The shrill ringing of her desk phone snapped her out of her day dreaming. The four digit extension on her phone screen showed it to be her colleague Nako-san calling from the outbound patient care department.

"Yes Nako-san?"

"Sakura-san, I'm sorry for disturbing you but I have a huge favour to ask."

Just her luck that on a day where she was feeling deadly tired the work favours start coming through.

"Sure, how can I help?"

"Firstly Sakura-san I really wouldn't be asking this of you without trying my hardest to resolve the situation but I just couldn't seem to win anyone around."

Sakura leaned forward on to her desk and frowned, "Nako-san I don't understand."

There was a pause on the line before Nako continued, "One of my nurses, no, that isn't right. Several of my nurses have dropped out of doing a medical examination of a patient, namely, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura's senses were on edge naturally at any mention of Sasuke but she had a bad feeling about this.

"The nurses didn't feel… comfortable conducting the examination. None of the current staff available want to conduct the examination."

"If we cut out the pleasantries, I assume you mean the nurses are scared of doing the examination instead of comfortable." Sakura couldn't help the sheer bitterness that laced every word she spoke. Anger was beginning to fester up within her but hadn't totally taken over.

"Yes Sakura-san." Nako was whispering at this point, clearly embarrassed about bring this to her and so she should be thought Sakura. Sasuke had been cleared of all past wrong-doings and completely pardoned, but Sakura knew better, it was going to take a lot of time for people to adjust to him being back in the village and you can't quell that kind of fear so easily.

"And I presume you are calling me to see if I can find someone to do the examination instead."

"In the spirit of your recent statement on cutting pleasantries Sakura-san, I believe you aren't going to find anyone to take this case amongst the nurses. It would really only be a combat doctor who would even consider taking this on. To be blunt, I think you need to do this examination."

Sakura had a feeling this was coming her way.

"I'll do it. When is the examination happening?"

"He is downstairs in the Hebbiki Ward, room 10. The examination was due to start fifteen minutes ago."

Sakura was caught off guard. She wasn't expecting him to be here right now and truth be told she wanted some time to prepare herself for this examination.

"I'll go now."

"Thank you Sakura-san."

Sakura hung up without a goodbye. She knew anger wasn't going to get anyone to like Sasuke any faster but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to be clear that this kind of disrespectful, and borderline discriminatory behaviour, had absolutely no place in the hospital.

With that in mind she stood up from her desk and walked out of her office towards the examination room. Patting down her black tank top and shorts she felt ever so slightly self-conscious as she'd rather Sasuke didn't see her in such a worn out state but needs must. Besides, he'd already once seen her after being splashed with acid and sweating profusely after helping find and bring him back to the right dimension during the war.

Her cheeks began to burn as she remembered his smouldering gaze as he helped steady her back then. Absentmindedly her hand rose to the arm that Sasuke had held to to hold her up. She could almost still feel his touch on her arm.

As she approached his examination room she could see a few nurses gathered not that far off from the door gossiping amongst each other. They hadn't seen her approaching them yet.

"It's a good thing we are employing you in the capacity to gossip instead of performing your responsibilities as nurses." Sakura had raised her voice and was distinctly directing her attention to the nurses. They all jumped and turned to her. Before she could reach them and tell them off thoroughly they all apologised, bowed and disappeared in separate directions. Standing outside the examination room she was baffled that they had so shamelessly run away from her. It was no matter though, she would track them down eventually and give them a stern warning.

Turning her attention back to the task at hand she approached the examination room door and knocked loudly three times. From the other side of the door she could hear his voice, "Come in."

"Excuse me." She gave her usual pleasantries as she opened the door and stepped inside. He was sitting on the hospital bed with his back to her facing a slightly open window. She could see he was wearing a dark navy fitted vest with no sleeves. His usual long-sleeved shirt and coat lay neatly folded on a chair beside the bed.

Closing the door firmly shut behind herself she walked over to the base of the bed he was sitting on.

As she approached he turned his head, "So they drafted you in did they?"

She was taken a back slightly. She had no intention of letting on to Sasuke the kind of prejudice that had led up to the situation where she had to conduct this examination but it seems like he had worked it out already.

She cast her eyes down to the chart at the base of his bed and reached for his recent medical test results.

"They are all idiots." She whispered.

"They have the right to treat me this way."

She looked up towards him now, not expecting him to sympathise with them. The old Sasuke she knew wouldn't even warrant her statement with a reply and yet here he is, sympathising with those who judge him so severely with no knowledge of who he was and what he had gone through.

"It wasn't that long ago that I was about to enforce a dictatorship upon all the people of this world. Couple that with me being the reason today's Hokage only has one arm and it's no surprise that people would try to avoid me, be that out of fear or anger."

"People fear what they don't know. Over time this won't be a problem anymore, I'm sure of it." She said that partially to convince herself.

"The loser said pretty much the same thing to me just the other day."

Sakura smiled, "I'm impressed that Naruto delivered such an eloquent line to you. I guess hell has truly frozen over."

Sasuke smirked lightly, "I imagine that is your influence on him."

Sakura reflected for a moment as she stared back at him. Honestly even with him not facing her entirely, but his eyes on her she felt so self-conscious. Glancing down at the bed she tucked a lose string of hair behind her ear, the tips of which she could feel getting slightly warmer.

"Well, I don't think I wasn't the best of influencers back when I was a kid so I actually hope that I didn't stun his growth spurt!" She giggled nervously knowing full well that there was no way she would have motivated or given such wise words of wisdom to him back when they were kids. She was much too focused on what she could do to impress Sasuke. Really it was all rather embarrassing but she was at least grateful that in this moment all she felt was embarrassment and anxiety and not paralysing fear like she did before. Recently she was just one giant ball of random surging emotions.

Sasuke continued, "It wasn't just him who was being influenced."

His eyes seemed to darken in that moment but never wavered. How could he hold such a strong gaze? She couldn't see his eyes shift at all. At that line though, her heart broke just the tiniest of bits. He was implying that she influenced him in a way too. During all these years she used to wonder how much space, if any, she held in Sasuke's heart, and here was her answer. If even just as a friend, in this moment, she felt so happy knowing that she had touched him in some sort of way.

"Right well, let's begin shall we." Sakura placed the chart on the base of his bed and walked to stand in front of him. Sasuke began to shift to stand up from the bed but Sakura raised her hand stopping him.

"I'm going to start with your arm so it's easier for me if you stay seated. Close your eyes and lift your arm directly in front of you. I'm going to put some resistance on you from different directions but I need you to do your best to hold it in place, okay?"

He hummed beneath his breath and closed his eyes doing as instructed. Sakura placed her hand on his wrist and began to slowly exert some force to push his arm down, then upwards, to the left and to the right. He managed to hold it in place.

"I will now use some more force, if at any point you feel pain just let me know."

He didn't say anything and Sakura repeated the exercise three more times, with each round using more chakara infused strength. During the final round his arm couldn't resist her strength and simply moved about as Sakura directed. She expected his natural strength would end somewhere around level 3.

She stretched over and quickly snatched the chart at the base of the bed and using the pen that was conveniently clipped to the top, she scribbled down some basic notes.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and watched her as she scribbled away on that chart. Glancing down to the notes he tried to read them and see what her assessment was. Unfortunately, all the terms she was using were completely incomprehensible to him. Raising an eyebrow he glanced up at her focused face and wondered just how much smarter was she compared to him. He found it somewhat annoyed him.

"I'm going to assess your left shoulder now."

Sakura placed both her hands on his left shoulder and began to push some chakara into his chakara paths. She followed the winding paths making sure everything could flow easily and that all the path points that ended where his arm cut off were sealed off correctly and safely.

This part was rather laborious because she had to check every path that entered and left his shoulder and there were quite a few so for some time silence hung around them in the room. Gradually she could feel her own chakara reserves falling short. As she finished off and slowly removed her hands she felt her vision double for just a split second and a flashing sensation of pain in her head. She closed her eyes once more to block out some light and stepped back slightly feeling somewhat dizzy. Clearly last night's surgery was still having a lingering effect on her.

Sasuke noticed her small wavering step backwards and how her eyes were closed. Instinctively his hand moved to grab her upper arm and hold her in place.

As she felt his hand wrap around her upper arm she opened her eyes. He lightly tugged her forward back to where she was standing before. Looking up to him she saw he had activated his Sharingan.

"You are severely depleted in chakara."

She couldn't quite tell but she thought he sounded a bit annoyed her.

Steadying herself she sheepishly laughed, "Ahh, last night's surgery ended up draining me of a lot more chakara than I imagined."

"The surgery that little boy came to tell you about?"

She frowned confused for a moment about who she was referring to. Eventually it dawned on her and she chuckled, "Sasuke-kun, that little boy is Fuji and he is only two years younger than us!"

Raising an eyebrow, "That's my point. Little boy."

She sighed, "Fuji is one of my brightest co-workers in the hospital. Really now, don't go calling him a little boy. Besides, what part of him even makes you think he is little! He is just as tall as you, maybe even slightly taller."

Sasuke scoffed, "That kid is not taller than me."

"I think he is."

With his grip still firm on her upper arm he shifted off the side of the bed and suddenly stood up. As he towered over her she could feel his chest brush lightly against hers.

"No chance he is taller than me."

This obvious bruising of his pride and blatant flaunting of his ego was something that reminded her so strongly of the Sasuke she grew up with. He was never quite so showy about it as he was in this moment but it was so obvious back then that he hated it when another boy had an edge over him. Seeing little flickers of young Sasuke within him now melted her heart. If he kept this up she'd be a little pool of pink on the floor. It also didn't help that his looks had only gotten better over time and standing so close to him right now was affecting her far more than she was showing. The heat from his chest radiated strongly against her, his bare hand holding her bare arm burning her too.

"I-I'm not so sure anymore." She looked away from him, feeling slightly dazzled by his proximity and childish behaviour. Sasuke meanwhile smirked having taken that as a distinct win of their little debate.

"Also, don't worry I'm not going to fall over." He released his grip on her but kept his Sharingan on. Sakura found it intimidating but also incredibly alluring. The deep red against his dark black hair and his pale skin kept her pulse going fast.

Coughing more to snap herself out of it she intended on continuing with the assessment when a sharp knocking at the door took her attention away.

She moved around to the other side of the bed and drew the dividing curtain around to the base of the bed so that the view of Sasuke was blocked out from whoever was entering.

Opening the door Sakura was greeted by a junior nurse, she recognised her but couldn't place her name.

"Sakura-san, sorry to disturb but just a polite reminder that the next examination and assessment needs to begin in this room in about five minutes." She bowed and then left. Closing the door Sakura turned back to go back to Sasuke slightly annoyed that the physical examination was going to be left half done. If the nurses hadn't of been so annoying about this whole situation he could have had his whole examination completed, but they lost too much time in the morning.

Walking around the curtain she saw he had already put his long sleeved shirt back on and was reaching for his over coat.

"I'm afraid we are out of time. Sasuke-kun, you'll have to submit another request for an assessment okay? Don't leave this half done."

"Hmph."

Raising an eyebrow she wasn't filled with any confidence at all that he would do that so she mentally noted to manually get his next appointment set up herself.

She continued to stare at his back as he buttoned up his over coat and found herself somewhat sad. Sasuke turned at this moment and just caught a glance of her sad face before she shifted her expression to an awkward smiling one. He opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it after looking at the clock on the wall.

They both walked towards the door and exited the examination room. Sakura bearing left to go back to her office and Sasuke moving towards the right to head to the exit.

"See you later then Sasuke-kun." She did her best to look incredibly chipper and happy and raised her hand to wave him off.

"Sakura. Avoid using anymore chakara today, your levels are too low." He turned away and began to walk towards the bottom of the hallway.

He may have been gruff and grumpy when telling her not to use her chakara but she knew he meant well. Smiling slightly she kept waving at his back for a little while before dropping her hand to simply watch his retreating figure.

The next nurse and patient walked in front of her line of vision to enter the room but her eyes remained forward and focused on his back. Any second now he would turn sharp left to leave and disappear from her field of vision.

Except that he didn't. Instead, at the corner of the hallway he turned left towards the exit and simply paused. She could see he was speaking to someone in front of him but he was too far for her to lip read.

From the direction of the exit Tenten came into view. Sasuke was talking to her.

Sakura was surprised, had he already started reacquainting himself with everyone else to the point of having easy conversation?

She knew she shouldn't stare and that she should turn to go back to her office and continue her work but she really couldn't help it. Wherever Sasuke was concerned she was always so immensely curious and all her emotions seemed to be heightened. She wanted to see how long his coincidental interaction with Tenten would last and whether she could pick up on any signs of discomfort from Tenten with regards to dealing with Sasuke.

She was guessing any second now Sasuke would walk off and Tenten would carry on with her business in the hospital since the time to exchange polite pleasantries was probably over by now. Sakura was proud that Sasuke was obviously making such an effort not to just whimsically leave Tenten the way he used to do with herself back in their childhood days.

Her mind went blank when she saw Tenten turn around and walk back towards the exit with Sasuke still talking and walking beside her.

She realised she wasn't witnessing a random encounter and that it looked more like they had planned to meet. Tenten must have come by the hospital to go with him together to where ever it was they were going.

Her eyes followed them for the mere seconds they remained in view before they disappeared from sight leaving the hospital.

* * *

As always your thoughts and reviews are much appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend all!

M


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Chance**

This particular Thursday was definitely jinxed Sakura thought to herself as she headed back to her office courtesy of a rather unfortunate event.

The entire hospital had lost electricity in the early hours of the morning. Thankfully fail safes like emergency generators had kicked in to provide power to intensive care units and all emergency wards and theatres. The rest of the hospital however was left powerless. When electricians finally turned up and redirected supply to the hospital about eighty percent of normal hospital functionality was back. Thankfully it didn't take long to deal with the inevitable backlog in the A&E department as pretty much everyone who was available was called in to support the crucial units.

Sakura had singlehandedly been involved in every single surgery that morning. Couple that with a terrible night's sleep courtesy of her mind churning over what she saw with Tenten and chakara exhaustion she hadn't recovered from from the day before, she was at her limit. Whilst she was passionate about her work at the hospital she also knew if she collapsed and died, that would help no one. So after her final surgery she took some time to assess her chakara levels and concluded that they were extremely low and that she couldn't take part in any more medical procedures that day. It was times like these she envied Naruto's seemingly endless reserves.

With a hazy and light-headed feeling, she walked up the stairwell leading to her floor and weighed up the periphery damage of the power-outage. Her grip up the wooden balustrade was tight for fear of her tripping or losing balance on these stairs as she climbed them. Unfortunately it seemed like the power-cut had impacted their networking software used internally for scheduling and more routine non-emergency services. It was a hard call but Sakura and Shizune had both decided that the infrastructure wasn't stable and secure enough to provide medical services safely so all non-urgent appointment and surgeries were cancelled and rescheduled. It left parts of the hospital in an eerie silence she'd never seen.

Sakura somewhat expected an angry mob to have gathered outside the hospital with pitchforks and torches but was pleasantly surprised when the general mood amongst the public was one of frustration but also gratitude that at the very least emergency services didn't take a hit. It was in moments like these that Sakura really felt the village's spirit and reflected on how much it had changed over the years.

There was a time when a situation like this would have led to finger-pointing and politically charged blaming of senior officials. It seemed that after the atrocities of the war most people sobered up to the reality that things could be a lot worse. They'd seen blood shed like no other war, lost friends and family in battles and witnessed what should have been the end of the free world as they knew it. Having your routine medical postpone for a day hardly seemed like such a disaster now in most people's eyes and Sakura was grateful that there was no additional pressure from that angle.

As she finally approached her office she began fumbling around for her keys in her surgical coat. Once the door was unlocked she stepped in, flung her coat off and slammed her door with more force than was necessary. With even more determination she practically dived for one of her office's sofa.

Sakura had spent some time doing up this office when she first got it knowing that there would inevitably be long working nights. She wanted to make sure her office felt just as much a refuge for when she was exhasuted as much as a professional room.

In the centre of her office she had a double layered circular glass table. On the lower level she had several piles of medical books which were all visible from the top glass layer. Around this table she had one king size triple seating beige leather sofa that faced her office's desk and on either end were two single seating sofas of a similar colour. These two single seaters faced each other and were at a ninety degree angle to the main three-seating sofa. Behind her largest sofa was a bookshelf that covered up her entire wall. She loved that when she looked up from her desk she could see her guests seated in the centre with a backdrop of all her medical text books that she had collected over time.

Sakura had dove straight for her largest sofa and as she laid back, limbs stretched out besides her, she could feel her breathing beginning to come back down to a normal pace and some of her dizziness beginning to fade.

The hectic day was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. Last night Sakura's mind weighed heavily on Sasuke's interaction with Tenten. She was really glad that he was once again interacting with old fellow academy ninjas but she wouldn't lie to herself and not admit that she felt a bit uneasy about the ninja being Tenten.

She spent most of her night racking her memories to see if they ever really interacted with one another back in their academy days. Aside from the initial meeting and occasional run-ins that happened throughout the examination process she couldn't recollect Tenten and Sasuke forming a bond. So to suddenly be talking and hanging out felt unusual.

Letting out a long sigh she lifted her hands and covered her face. She even felt bad thinking about things like this. She had no monopoly over Sasuke, he was free to spend time with whoever he wanted. The problem was the associated discomfort and hurt she'd always feel when he gave his attention to someone else, especially to another female. She remembered how hard she initially struggled when she first found out about his new team and the presence of a certain red haired kunochi.

It was something Ino had occasionally mentioned in passing as they spoke over the years, warning her that feeling things like that was not attractive or healthy in the least and Sakura agreed. She recognised that she loved Sasuke deeply but she hadn't come to terms with the idea that he might want to love others and that she should be happy if he finds companionship in anyone else, be they simply be a female friend or something more.

Hands sliding down the sides of her face and flopping to her side she decided to park her thoughts firmly there. She wasn't going to solve this any time soon and certainly not on a day when she is so unbelievably exhausted. If possible she'd try to reach out to Ino and talk this through with her. Sakura knew she usually felt remarkably positive after talking with her best friend, not that she'd admit that to her ever.

So there she laid and eventually fell asleep for twenty minutes before a knock at her door awoke her.

Snapping her head up she drowsily regarded her surroundings. Stretching around to look at the clock positioned at the top of her office she noted that she'd nearly managed to sleep for half an hour and she was pleased with that for now.

"Just a second." She weakly called over. Doubling over her knees as she sat on the edge of her sofa, she roughly rubbed her face to try and wipe the tiredness away before standing up and stretching her arms over her head. Patting her clothes down she reached for the door and opened it.

"Sasuke-kun?"

There stood Sasuke in his pale grey sleeveless waistcoat and dark grey shirt. Lifting his hand he motioned to a piece paper he held and said, "Got a message from Naruto."

Stepping aside she let him enter her office and shut the door behind him. He walked over and sat on the sofa she was just sleeping on.

Sakura followed suit and sat on one of her single sofa chairs. He was leaning forward peering at her medical books on the lower level of her glass table, then shifted his focus to a text book on the top level. It was her copy of the basics of chakara manipulation that she had previously lent to Fuji and forgotten to put away. Funnily enough Sakura thought the book was a level that Sasuke might just be able to read and somewhat digest.

Deciding to break the silence that had ensued as he scanned over her books she asked, "What did Naruto want?" It was odd to have Sasuke deliver a message. Naruto and her had a private and secure messaging system in place that didn't require Sasuke to act as a messenger.

Leaning back and shifting his attention to her, with the seemingly lightest of motions, he flicked his wrist and sent the folded paper with incredible accuracy over to her. She caught it and feeling rather bemused she opened up the folded paper. After a minute or so she frowned and lowered the paper.

She let out a short chuckle and whispered, "I'm not sure but I think his handwriting has hit rock bottom."

"Hmph. It took me a good ten minutes before I gave up and just went to his office to ask him what he wanted."

She laughed as she placed the paper on her table, "So, what was it that he was trying to say?"

"He wants us three to go grab lunch together at mid-day."

Sakura glanced at her clock and calculated that that was about an hour and a half from now.

"Are we going for Ramen or are we getting something else?"

He frowned at her as if she'd grown another head.

Throwing her hands up she chuckled, "You're right. Dumb question but a girl can dream right?"

She sighed and propped her head up with her arm resting on the arm of her sofa. The thought of taking a lunch break did appeal to her quite a bit, especially since officially she wasn't going to be doing any more medical procedures for the rest of the day. All that was left was a towering pile of paperwork and that didn't really appeal to her too much right now.

She also couldn't help the light fluttering feeling that bloomed in her stomach at the thought of all of them being together. Team 7 once again having a team lunch together. It was beyond nostalgic, she could feel her emotions stirring.

"Has someone told Kakashi?"

Sasuke paused ever so slightly before replying, "I think it's safe to assume Naruto will have asked him."

"Whether he'll turn up on time though…"

Sasuke smirked at his own memories of Kakashi constantly being late for any team mission they had.

"I bumped into Shizune on the way up here and she told me what had happened this morning."

Sakura looked at him as he'd shifted his attention back to the book on her desk. Picking it up he leaned back clearly with the intention of reading it. Sakura hadn't noticed before but she had left a small red hair tie on the cover of the book. Opening the book to one of the starting chapter he seemed to have begun skim reading what was in front of him, all the while playing around with the hair tie with his fingers. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight.

"Uhh- yeah. This was not the place to be about five hours ago but thankfully everything is more or less under control right now."

He didn't reply but instead flickered his eyes over to her and then back to her book. She couldn't explain it but she thought he felt somewhat displeased. It wasn't something she wanted to pry into and ask about in case she was wrong. If her senses were right though and he was annoyed about something he could tell her so.

Leaning back she thoroughly settled into her chair and stared ahead towards her window. Sasuke seemed engrossed in her book and she could feel herself drifting into what she humorously calls standby mode. She wasn't asleep nor was she awake. Instead she was in a semi-hazed state replenishing some energy.

It didn't go unnoticed to Sasuke that when she opened the door she was clearly very drowsy and even now she was on the verge of falling asleep. This was why he decided not to berate her for working herself too hard again. Instead he allowed himself to feed his curiosity and read some of her basic medical textbooks as she recovered some strength. He could call her out on her foolishness another time.

They sat there in silent companionship for about fifteen minutes before all peace was interrupted by a shrill scream and another muffled voice calling out for help.

Springing into action both Sakura and Sasuke leapt up and ran for her door, Sasuke having thrown the book back on the coffee table.

"What is going on?" Sakura asked Sasuke who simply frowned and shook his head.

Ripping the door open they stood outside her office looking left, then right, before they saw two people gathered around someone sprawled out on the floor.

Rushing towards the man on the floor Sakura pushed back the pair crowded around him.

"What happened?" She asked the bystander on her right. Their clothing and the passes that hung around their necks told her they were temporary administrative employees.

"We were walking to the X-ray department to collect some results and Asahi-he- he started grabbing his head. He mentioned he was feeling dizzy and I don't know what happened he just suddenly collapsed. He- he was definitely wheezing but now, oh God, why isn't he wheezing anymore? Is he-?"

The young lady was becoming hysterical as she spoke and her male friend stepped in to pull her back, trying to assure her that things were going to be okay.

Sakura started moving the young man called Asahi into a first aid safety position before she began the usual checks to confirm signs of life. Sasuke had crouched down opposite her looking between the collapsed man and Sakura.

Clutching his hand she began calling out his name, "Asahi-san can you hear me? Asahi-san if you hear me I need you to squeeze my hand." No response. "Asahi, can you move your fingers?"

Sakura's fingers slid towards his pulse point. There was a pulse but it was incredibly weak, if they didn't act quick it would stop. Lowering her head to his chest whilst facing his face she found he wasn't breathing.

Flipping him flat on to his back she clutched her hands together and laced her fingers, position her palms just over his sternum. She then began to push hard and fast on his chest, breaking her rhythm to draw a deep breath in and blow into Otori's mouth. Sakura repeated this steady stream of CPR motions over the hysterical sobs of the young lady beside her.

There was no response from the unconscious man and she knew she needed a defibrillator. She was just about to instruct Sasuke to go and find the emergency defibrillator in her room when the young man suddenly and sharply drew breathe.

"Asahi!" The young lady shrieked, still being held back by her other companion.

"Sakura-san!" Medical staff were running down the hallway with a stretcher to hand and came to crouch right beside her. She had no idea who had informed them of what was going on but she was grateful.

"Get him to IC A&E now. Idiopathic cause. Do a full CBC and BMP immediately. Pulse is weak and I'd average 50."

The medical staff crouched down and all together gently lifted the young man on to the stretcher. When they finished binding him in they counted to three and lifted him up. They paused for a moment as they found their footing and were ensuring they all had a safe and firm grip on the stretcher. Sakura rose with them and as they adjusted their grips she did a final check on the rest of the young man to ensure there was nothing else she missed in all the hast of the situation. As her eyes travelled along his body she could tell she was losing focus in her eyes. Stepping back slightly she decided she wouldn't follow after the medical team.

In that moment that she stood backwards she could hear the echoes of footsteps as the patient was rushed off by the medical staff, with her two distressed companions following suit. The sound seemed to grow ever more distant. Her eyes felt heavy and were drifting down towards the ground.

As she was gazing down at the floor she watched as her feet stayed rooted to the spot but she could see herself drifting towards the left. Stretching out her arm she tried to steady herself to gain balance when the drifting feeling seemed to stop and she once again saw her feet in the centre of her field of vision. She could tell the drifting left sensation was about to repeat itself again. All of a sudden her vision shifted and she was no longer drifting to the left but instead she could tell she was falling backwards. Panic seized her but her mind was too hazy to do anything.

The sensation of falling stopped and instead she could feel an arm wrapped very tightly around her arms and lower chest. Her back and head lulled backwards resting against someone. Shutting her eyes firmly she focused hard on trying to make sure her legs didn't fail her, but she could feel them giving way as she failed to support her own weight.

For a brief moment panic struck her again as the supporting arm that held her chest disappeared. Quickly after though she felt an arm sweep under her knees and she could feel her body now facing whoever was supporting her. She desperately lifted her arms to cling to the support as she worried it would disappear again too. Her arms wrapped themselves around a neck and her hands touched the softest of hairs. Opening her eyes slightly her vision was that of a neck, tilting back slightly she could see black hair falling forward.

"Sasuke-"

"Hold on."

Sasuke had lifted her up and with a firm grip around her legs started carrying her over to her office. They had left the door to her office open in their rush before so he could easily step inside with her in his arm. With his left foot he tapped the door and it shut.

He walked back over to the very sofa he was sitting on minutes ago and gently lowered her down. Sitting beside her he kept his eyes fixated on her. He could feel all of his senses were on edge.

Sakura meanwhile opened her eyes and looked up to the ceiling as her head had lulled completely back onto the top of her sofa.

"Sakura."

"It's okay, don't-"

"If you are about to tell me not to worry about this then save your breath. This is the second time you've nearly fallen over in front of me. Pushing yourself to this point again is a level of stupidity I thought only Naruto knew." His tone was nothing short of harsh and admonishing.

Silence rung out in her office. What was she supposed to say to that? He was right but did he have to be so harsh about it? She shut her eyes and did her best not to say anything back. She didn't want to start an argument and she didn't want to risk the chance of her becoming emotional in front of him. Part of her was hoping he'd just get up and leave her be now so that she could wallow in self-embarrassment. She knew she had pushed herself too hard this morning and left herself in a weak position. 'Rookie mistake' wouldn't quite do it justice.

She could feel the sofa shift a bit before she felt his hand enclose around her wrist. To be specific she could feel his thumb digging into her inner wrist and immediately she could tell he was trying to read her pulse. Opening her eyes ever so slightly she looked at his fingers and felt her nerves calming.

"You should always use your index and middle finger to feel for a pulse. The thumb's own pulse can mislead your reading."

She couldn't help correcting him. Just this simple gesture showed her his frustration was because of the state she was in. He wanted to help but he didn't know how. She wondered if in those peaceful moments before this commotion whether he'd managed to read up on anything to do with human heart rates.

She looked up to the ceiling and decided to test her vision by looking between different areas of her ceiling. There was no discomfort and as she shifted her eyes to different light fittings and she was glad she was able to focus, albeit slowly.

"I'm sorry."

Her eyes stayed glued to the ceiling for a moment before they drifted down and towards her right hand side to look at him. Did he really just apologise?

As she looked over to him his focus was entirely on her wrist that was enclosed by his hand. Turning her vision back up to the ceiling she spoke softly.

"I should be the one apologising for inconveniencing you like this. You don't have to stay, honestly, it's just exhaustion I'll be okay in about ten or so minutes."

"What should I do?" He seemed to ignore her get-out-of-jail-free card. She thought he'd release her wrist and perhaps excuse himself at that point however she wasn't expecting that question. Even more surprising was the intensity in his eye as he asked this question. He was completely fixated on her.

She started smiling ear to ear, "Pushing yourself to help me when you've been excused is a level of persistence I thought Naruto only knew." Letting a little chuckle out now she couldn't help but throw his words back at him in a more playful way.

He himself let a small chuckle out and hung his head down for a moment, "Seems like we're both becoming a pair of idiots."

Sakura's stomach felt a flutter as she watched him. He looked like a child in that moment and her heart ached.

"Neh. Sasuke-kun. There is a bottle in my second drawer behind my desk, it's full of bright blue liquid, can you grab that for me?"

He released her wrist and got up to go behind her desk. Pushing her desk chair aside he opened her second drawer and grabbed the blue bottle. As he walked back over she shifted herself to sit upright on her sofa and drew a hand threw her pink hair.

Sitting back down beside her, he handed her the bottle. She thanked him as she took it and started drinking it. After she drank about half of the contents of the bottle she leant over her knees with her elbows propping her up. The back of her wrist came up to her mouth and she tightly shut her eyes.

"What is that?"

When she was confident she could keep the contents of her drink down she leant back and looked over at him. She could already feel the benefits of the drink.

"It's a soldier drink. It pretty much instantly gives you a sugar hit and gets your blood pressure going. I developed it about six months ago. Never got round to addressing the God awful taste though."

Sasuke could see the colour returning to her skin, her eyes seemed sharper and she was replying to him quicker.

"Drink the rest of it."

"No, that would be overkill. You really only need about 50cc of this stuff so I've already had too much." She screwed the lid on the bottle back on tight and looked at him cheekily.

"Would you like to try some?" She waved the bottle close to his face leading him to promptly grab the base of the bottle, holding it in place.

"Clearly you are fine now."

She smiled and relaxed her arm holding the bottle to pull back and he released his grip.

"Sasuke-kun."

He looked towards her. He could see her mouth hang slightly open as she played around with the bottle in her hand.

"Thank you for catching me – I mean, for helping me out back there." Sheepishly she looked up towards him again with the smallest of smiles.

He lets out a small sigh and closes his eyes. Pushing himself off the sofa he turns and starts walking towards her door.

Her smile still lingers on her mouth as she watches his back turn to leave. Closing her eyes she leans back on her sofa, listening to the gentle footsteps of his departure and the creaking of her door as it opens and slowly begins to close as he exits her office. She decides it to be wise to allow herself another half an hour or so of sleep.

As he steps out and turns to shut the door he casts a glance at her figure resting on the sofa through the small gap left between the door and the door frame. He allows himself a moment or two to watch her. Opening his mouth to speak, he finds himself a little at a loss for words. Part of him wonders if it is wise leaving her on the sofa after such an episode but dismisses the thought. Even his untrained eye could see she was fine now and simply needed some rest. His fingers twitched on the door handle slightly as he recognised he just didn't want to leave her company.

Meanwhile, as Sakura rested on her sofa and began to feel the draws of sleep overcome her, she felt a cold light breeze graze her calves. Opening her eyes, she intended to get up and close any of her windows that might be open. As she opened her eyes to get up she sees Sasuke from the corner of her eye, standing with the door slightly ajar looking over to her from outside her office.

"Sasu-"

"Don't be late for lunch". The door immediately shuts firmly and he was gone. Sasuke practically marches down the hallway with his head down. Raising his hand he pinches the bridge of his nose and hums in embarrassment. Unintentionally his mind hurriedly goes over the events of the last hour or so feeling many mixed emotions of relief knowing she was fine and not in an danger, the gentle warmth of their companionship as he found himself enjoying and wishing to lengthen his time he spent with her and the embarrassment at being caught looking over at her as she rested. It was an assault of emotions he didn't know how to counter.

One burning emotion had him stop abruptly in his tracks. Images flash before his eyes of Sakura's lips closing over those of the collapsed man. His fist clenches into a dangerously tight grip and he spits out a sigh as he briefly puts his fist out to lean against the hallway's wall. It is then that he notices a certain red hairband tightly wrapped around his wrist. He couldn't remember when he'd slipped it on but there it was. Turning back to look over to her office door he rolled the hairband off of his wrist and looked down at the accessory.

It would be wise to return the item to her he thought to himself. He could also possibly use this as a means of skirting past the awkward situation he was just caught in.

Twirling the band between his thumb and index finger he turned back towards the exit and slipped the hair band so that it was back over his wrist.

Meanwhile Sakura stares at the closed door slightly perplexed. Turning over to her left she finds all her windows firmly shut. Her heart was racing as she raised both hands to her cheeks feeling the distinct spread of a heated blush across her face.

* * *

Apologies for the delay everyone. Unfortunately I was in and out of doctors and emergency medical centres this weekend, so not the most fun of weekends for me sadly.

I sincerely hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. If it's not too much trouble please do help put my curiosity to rest by letting me know your thoughts.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chance: Chapter 5**

As she gazed back at her reflection from her small fold away mirror she mulled over how fast her hair had grown. It currently sat just past her shoulders and she'd been meaning to have it cut shorter but every weekend came and she never got round to doing it.

Brushing out her knots she assesses her tired complexion. It made her wince a little on the inside to know that she wasn't so presentable around Sasuke but there was little she could do about the past. At least she could use what limited makeup she had stashed away in her office to make herself look a more fresh before their lunch.

Glancing at the clock she noted that she had about ten minutes till their lunch. Thankfully her office wasn't too far off so she had just enough time to apply the tiniest bit of concealer and light powder foundation before heading out. Sakura wasn't against makeup in any way but rather she never had the time to indulge in doing herself up every day, her life was far too busy.

She reached for her cosmetics bag stashed away at the back of her bottom drawer as she sat behind her desk. Rummaging through the bag she pulled out her concealer, foundation compact box and two separate applicator brushes. Tossing the bag back into her drawer she took her fold away mirror and propped it on top of a very thick medical text book on her desk.

As she swept on her foundation she was grateful for it masking away some of the leftover tints of her blush from some moments ago.

Brush halting in her hand she looked back at herself in a semi-hazed state as she remembered catching him gazing at her as he left her office. She couldn't quite explain what he was thinking but she knew the effect it had on her. Eyes drifting shut, a shiver went down her spine as her mind burned just remembering it.

Snapping out of her day dream, she continued to dust on the rest of her foundation, swiftly followed by her concealer. Putting down her brushes she took one final look at her face in the mirror and was happy that she looked a little more fresh and presentable. It was a testament to her ridiculous emotions to still be able to see the remnants of her blush through her foundation but she wasn't too annoyed since it added the tiniest of hints of colour to her face.

Standing up she patted down the front and back of her clothes, cleared her throat a bit and made her way out of her office.

As she walked the short distance towards Ichiraku she could feel the butterflies in her stomach beginning to flutter. Trying her hardest, she repeated a few mantras in her head in the hope it would calm her down and act normally. The last thing she wanted to do was to make a big deal out of something small. For all she knew he was just stuck in his own serious daydream as he left her office and it awkwardly led to him staring at her unintentionally.

When she considered that possibility she suddenly felt very embarrassed at the prospect of getting so worked up over it, and yet it also somewhat calmed her nerves as she approached the usual lunch spot. From a distance she could see the profiles of the backs of Naruto and Sasuke sat at the counter. Naruto's Hokage cloak drapped over the back of his stool and Sakura could see Sasuke's legs. No sign of Kakashi-sensei, but that wasn't terribly surprising, perhaps more shocking was to see Naruto and Sasuke having arrived and settled in before her. She glanced at her watch as she approached and noted that she was on time. She pondered the possibility that Sasuke and Naruto simply agreed to meet earlier so that they could hang out. The thought of these two non-blood brothers spending time together made her feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Reaching for the drapes at the entrance she couldn't make out what they were talking about as they were speaking too softly.

"What are you two gossiping about?" Speaking up to announce her arrival.

"Gah!" Naruto jumped in his stool and swivelled around. "Sakura-chan!"

Raising an eyebrow with her hand on her hip she regarded Naruto unsympathetically. "Naruto, what kind of Hokage are you if I can creep up on you so easily?"

Scratching the back of his head childishly he replied, "Heh. My own fault for getting so drawn into a conversation…"

Looking over she saw Sasuke. He hadn't completely turned around but he had turned his head to look her way as she entered.

"Ohaiyo, Sasuke-kun."

"Ohaiyo."

He nodded as he greeted her. Sakura thought he seemed a little cautious but she didn't blame him. After a little bit of food and light banter amongst the team she was sure he would ease up.

Walking towards the empty stool beside Sasuke she hopped on and adjusted herself to sit comfortably.

She knew she was going to feel an array of emotions when she sat beside him. It was surreal, she could feel his presence so strongly even without looking at him. It was this towering sensation of power and she naturally felt drawn towards it like a moth to a flame, his fire burned so bright. She just had to make sure she didn't go up in flames herself.

Her mind remembered the times during her childhood when she would sit next to him as they ate at this very restaurant and she would adoringly admire his beautiful eyes. Now as she glanced to her left to look at him she only saw his arm and shoulder. He'd grown so much taller such that if she wanted to look at him she had to look up.

Proving her observation she looked over her to her left and lifted her gaze to his face. It was just another way that time had altered things between them.

Sensing eyes on him he turned to look at her and she hastily looked away as if she had been caught doing something wrong.

Clearing her throat she asked both of them, "So what were you guys talking about that was so captivating?"

Both of them froze. From the corner of her eye Sakura saw a small bead of sweat rolling down the side of Naruto's face. How unusual though for Sasuke to seem to be caught out too she thought to herself. She smirked as she shifted her gaze to Naruto first, who was doing his best to look everywhere apart from Sakura, and then flicking her gaze to Sasuke who had the lightest of blushes dusted on the peeks of his cheeks.

"Oh you know, just reminiscing over the good old days, right Sasuke?" Naruto slapped the back of Sasuke, a little too hard in her opinion, and he simply reached for the small cup of water before him as he hummed in agreement.

She turned towards the front of the stall, "Whatever it is you two are hiding you should know I'll get to the bottom of it. I always do…" She plastered the broadest fake smile she could muster before turning her attention to the young waitress and ordering herself a tea.

"I'm surprised you aren't hitting the stronger stuff, Sakura."

They all turned around clockwise in perfect sync when they heard his voice to see Kakashi pushing past the drapes and raising a flat palm, "Yo."

All three of them completely froze staring at him. A small breeze shifted the drapes gently side to side and the faint footsteps of people walking outside echoed inside the now pin-drop silent stall.

Kakashi waved his hand from left to right very slowly.

"What is going on?" Sakura whispered, both to herself and her team mates.

Naruto sprung out of his stool and pointing a shaking finger towards Kakashi, "You're-you're on time!"

Kakashi bemusedly replied, "Of course I'm on time. I've been on time befor-"

"That's a lie!" Sakura and Naruto voiced together at the same time.

"Kakashi, are you unwell?" Sakura began to look him up and down, "Maybe you tripped and fell as you woke up this morning?"

"I didn't."

Naruto snapped his fingers and countered, "Maybe after you woke up this morning, as you were walking down a street, an old lady dropped a watering can on your head successfully concussing you!"

"That didn't happen."

"Or maybe your watch is running ahead by, I don't know, two hours?" Sakura added.

"My watch is working fine."

Naruto closed his eyes, deep in thought, "Maybe he was in a rush to get here on time so that he could go to the laundry shop next door first because he has run out of clean underwear."

"Naruto! That's just gross and doesn't even make sense!" Sakura turned to him outraged.

Raising both of his hands now Kakashi added, "Now, now. Both of you are just being over dramatic and clearly forgetting all the times I've been on time, right Sasuke?"

They all turned to look at the man in question. He sat there with his palm covering his mouth. Ever so slowly he turned back to face the front of the stall and with a low voice he whispered, "Definitely a total lie."

Kakashi fell to his knees, both Sakura and Naruto returned to their seats muttering about how much of their childhood was wasted on his tardiness. With a bruised pride Kakashi dragged himself to go sit beside Sakura.

Kakashi turned to Sakura, "I heard about what happened in the hospital today."

Thanking the maid for her tea, Sakura set her cup down in front of her after taking a sip, "Yeah it was an absolute nightmare at around 4am this morning."

Naruto chipped in, "They found out it was some kind of power surge in the area."

"I've never heard of such a thing happening in this village ever." Kakashi added.

Sakura nodded in agreement, "The hospital couldn't have been the cause of the surge, if anything I think we've become a little more energy efficient in recent months thanks to all the new LED fittings we are using."

"It must have been tough, but I heard from Tsunda-sama that you didn't slip up. Not one emergency was turned away. Well done."

Kakashi rested a palm on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze feeling immensely proud of how far Sakura has come since her younger years. He was usually a believer that every single shinobi was replaceable if push came to shove, but when it came to Sakura and her work at the hospital, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Thank you, Kakashi." She whispered and smiled back at him. Recognition was something she'd long desired from her boys in her younger years and she knew she'd earned it during the war. Everything else was truly just a bonus.

Looking over his shoulder Sasuke regarded the interaction with curiosity. He didn't realise Sakura and Kakashi had become so close that she felt comfortable enough to drop the honourific. Glancing back down to his water he mulled over the fact that there was a lot he had missed out on. Life carried on in Konoha as he ventured on his journey of repentance.

"Just be sure not to over work yourself, okay? Your chakara levels are too low." Kakashi added with a crinkled eye and smile.

Sakura sheepishly laughed and scratched the back of her head, "I'll certainly try…"

Sasuke now shifted an unimpressed gaze over to her and she stared straight ahead at a seemingly fascinating crack on the back wall of Ichiraku. The intensity of his disapproving stare was unnerving. Ever so slowly she turned her head to look at him and was proven correct, he didn't look the least bit impressed. She wondered if he was going to bring up the fact that she nearly passed out only an hour or so ago. Hopefully he wouldn't, she would never hear the end of it from Kakashi or Naruto.

He stopped frowning and smirked. She blushed at the unexpected reaction all the while wondering if she was off the hook. He reached for his drink and sipped it slowly. Sakura watched him as he did so, still a little unsure of his intentions. She hadn't meant to but her eyes focused on his lips as he opened his mouth to drink. Swiftly she turned to face forward, once again focusing heavily on the back wall of Ichiraku.

"So, how are you doing Sasuke?"

Lifting his eyes up to Kakashi he replied, "Fine. Not much to mention."

Kakashi knew better than to press Sasuke for any more conversation. He would speak when he felt comfortable to do so.

"Of course there's not much to mention, because I'm doing such an amazing job at being Hokage!"

"Try not to destroy the village, I've not been back long and haven't had much of a chance to reacquaint myself, loser."

Sakura smirked and added, "Such an amazing job? In all of Konoha's years we've never had a power surge. Have you listened to any of your advisors about infrastructure improvement plans?"

Naruto's left eye began to twitch, vaguely remembering that he re-arranged a meeting with both the transport and welfare minister when he accidentally overslept on the day.

"Orders up!" Ichiraku's head chef called out.

"Great! I'm starving! Aren't you guys starving?" Naruto graciously accepted his bowl of ramen and urged everyone else to focus on their meals all the while laughing nervously.

The head chef and waitress presented their lunches one by one.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you not eating?" Naruto mentioned with a mouthful of ramen and a little soup dribbling down his chin.

"No not today. I'm afraid I can't stay for lunch because I'm helping some of the other Jounin with a few things. I just wanted to swing by and say hi."

Sakura noted that he was being particularly vague. Glancing over to Naruto she could see a look of understanding eventually pass by his face after his initial confusion. She herself however remained curious, looking to Sasuke he seemed completely disinterested as he ate. Shrugging her shoulders she let the matter go.

"How long can you stay for then?" Sakura asked.

Looking up toward the sky he sighed, "I should probably get going now really."

Sakura pouted, "No fair. This is hardly a team lunch if you only drop by in passing for a total of three minutes!"

The three of them turned in their seats as Kakashi got off from his chair.

Kakashi felt bad for leaving early, "Next time give me a little more advanced notice and I'm sure I'll be able to stay for an entire lunch, alright, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto grinned like the cat who got the cream and gave his old teacher a thumbs up. Sakura meanwhile sat there with a small pout on her face. Kakashi nodded to Sasuke and then lightly patted Sakura's shoulder as he walked out.

Naruto bounced back to his ramen like a child and somehow was already half way through his meal. Sasuke and Sakura both swivelled back on their chairs but as they turned, their knees gently bumped into one another's as Sakura had swivelled in the opposite direction accidentally.

"Ahh, so-sorry!"

"It's fine."

Sakura looked to him and he was reaching for his chopsticks. She felt less embarrassed about the silly mistake seeing him not care so much. Reaching for her own chopsticks she was about to start eating when she noticed a few small pieces of pork floating in her ramen. She never ate pork ramen and whilst she wasn't one to be a fussy customer she really didn't fancy eating meat right now.

"Umm… excuse me? I think you've given me the wrong meal…" She felt so bad complaining to the chef. He was like extended family to her given how much he'd looked after them over the years.

The waitress came over along with the chef and profusely apologised as they noticed it wasn't the right meal for her.

"I'm so sorry Haruno-san!"

"It's okay honestly please don't worry about it."

"We will prepare your usual ramen straight away it won't take long."

"Please don't rush."

"Sakura-chan do you want to eat some of my leftover pickles while you wait for your food?" Naruto asks her.

Smiling softly over to him, "Thanks Naruto but it's okay I'll wait for mine. Don't worry I'm not even that hungry!"

Sasuke props his chopsticks on the side of his bowl and stops eating.

Sakura was just about to tell him to not stop eating on her account when a familiar voice calls out from behind them.

"Well isn't this nostalgic?"

Turning around they all see Tenten standing at the entrance of Ichiraku.

"Hey Tenten!" Naruto calls out.

"Ohaiyo Hokage-sama."

Sakura was a little thrown and reminded of the time she saw her and Sasuke talking and walking out together in the hospital. What was Tenten doing here, is this just a coincidence? She glanced to Naruto and could see he was obviously surprised at her appearance so clearly she wasn't invited. Looking then to Sasuke he had completely turned around and politely greeted her. Sakura could feel her heart beating just the slightest bit faster.

"Ohaiyo Tenten." He said to her.

"I don't mean to interrupt you guys." At this point she looked between all three of them briefly, "I just wanted to drop this off." She was waving a small box around, no bigger than an A5 notebook. She stepped forward to Sasuke and handed it over to him.

"You forgot this last night."

Naruto's jaw dropped and his entire body froze.

Sasuke reached out and took the box whilst nodding and thanking her.

"See you later Sasuke. Bye, Hokage-sama, Sakura!" She smiled and waved at them both as she left Ichiraku.

"Oi… Sasuke…" Naruto whispered to Sasuke. Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke turned to Naruto, "What?"

"What do you mean ' _what_ '-?" Naruto was taken aback at the implications of what he witnessed.

Sakura starred at the spot where Tenten once stood, dumbfounded. The words 'last night' echoing again and again in her mind. What exactly was going on here? Last night? What were these two doing last night?

At the mere thought of the question she could feel her chest tightening painfully. She was completely at a loss and couldn't think straight. Turning to face the front of the counter she felt dizzy and unstable. Her arms were beginning to shake slightly as she felt the waves of sadness building in her heart.

She couldn't face this situation, not after all the commotion this morning, not after everything they been through after all these years. She felt like her greatest nightmare was unfolding before her and she didn't want to see what came next.

Looking up, she could see the chef still preparing all the vegetables for her ramen. Lifting her hand she waived over the maid in the distance with a smile.

Naruto saw Sakura lift her hand from the corner of his eye. His chest felt heavy with the weight of the implications of what happened. He knew Sakura was as much in love with Sasuke as she ever had been, if not more. After all she had been through and endured with Sasuke, Naruto couldn't quite believe what was happening right now. There must be some sort of mistake and he was going to clarify this right here and now.

Sakura spoke to the maid as she came over, "I'm sorry, but do you think you could cancel my order? I'm not feeling too well and need to leave."

"Of course Haruno-san, are you quite alright?"

Sakura kept smiling and nodded as she slid off her stool facing both Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto was anxious. She was leaving and he knew if he forced her to stay he'd make things worse. Sasuke turned away from Naruto and his bizarre antics to look at Sakura and frowned as he noticed her paler complexion. He wondered whether the day's earlier events were catching up on her now.

"Don't worry Naruto I'm fine. I'm going to head back to my office for a bit to finish off some work."

"Your work can wait, stay and eat something!" He protested.

"The hospital just went through a power outage, believe me, work can't really wait." She was lieing. It could easily wait. She'd already planned to work the entire evening so that she could possibly take the day off tomorrow to rest and recuperate. It was no joke to work with such low chakara levels and her body needed a break.

Sasuke regarded her carefully. As well as her pale complexion she also seemed a little out of breath. He racked his brains to see if he could remember anything he'd learned over the years as to how one should deal with these symptoms and nothing came to mind apart from his memories of his mother's various soothing solutions.

A pang rang through his heart at the thought of his mother and he stood up from his stool.

Sakura regarded him like a deer before a wolf.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'll walk you back to the hospital."

Her heart skipped a beat and she hated herself for it. Why did the slightest gesture from him always have such a profound effect on her? Evidently she was reading too much into all of his gestures and they were nothing special. She felt angry at herself for being so weak around him.

"That's not necessary." She almost spat the words out and she regretted it instantly. Hanging her head lower in shame, letting her hair cover her face, she spoke more softly this time, "Please stay and enjoy your lunch with Naruto. Bye."

She instantly turned and hurried off. She felt her eyes welling up and her breathing become much more laboured. The lunch time crowds were hard to navigate through and she bumped into many people as she rushed away.

Her mind flashed images in her mind of Sasuke and Tenten leaning against one another on her wooden porch in the dim moonlight. His arm protectively wrapped around her shoulders. Her hands resting on his chest as they gazed at one another.

She was full blown crying now with tears overflowing.

Rounding a corner she saw the hospital and wondered if this is what those who seek sanctuary in a holy place of worship feel like.

Running as hard as she could she headed towards the side of the hospital. Instead of going through the main entrance, she was going to climb up the eastward facing side of the building by forcing chakara through her feet. With great ease she navigated to her office's windows and perched on the small ledge just beneath them. Pushing the window second from the left that she always left open she jumped inside.

As she sat crouched on the floor everything around her seemed to shift a bit as a small wave of dizziness overtook her for a moment. Closing her eyes she waited for it to dispel.

"Calm down. Don't overthink. Calm down. Don't…overthink."

She repeated this slowly like a mantra until her breathing slowed, her eyes dried up and her mind was clear.

Not bothering to navigate to her couch, she sprawled out on the floor of her office and stared up to her ceiling.

"I've got to stop over thinking. I'm sure it was nothing. Yes, that is it. It was nothing. Absolutely nothing."

She sighed as she willed herself to believe her own words but knew she was failing as she gazed up to the ceiling in a complete daze. With the adrenaline fading, her mind recalled the final scenes of her recent dream as a Sakura tree burst up into flames after a deadly lightning strike.

* * *

Thank you all for the kind messages regarding my recent spate of visits to the doctors. Truly made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

I hope you all had a lovely week and as always I look forward to seeing your reviews!

P.s. Have a little punt at predicting what will happen next. I'm ever so curious as to what you'll all say haha!

Oh on another note, someone recently left me an anonymous message that I should submit this fiction to the SasuSaku community as there is always a SasuSaku week during the year and it could gain a few more readers that way. I have no clue about whom or where this community is haha! Do any of you guys know anything about this? The account of the person who sent me the message has disappeared…how eerie, right?

Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Chance**

Sasuke watched her retreating back disappear into the busy lunch time crowds in mild confusion. His feet were rooted to the spot, posture tall and strong and eyes fixated on the final spot he saw her last.

Naruto had come to stand to the right of him and also looked ahead into the crowd. Glancing at Sasuke from the corner of his eye, he regarded his strong stance but knew better than to believe it. Naruto had learnt Sasuke's tells quite well over the years and could see he was confused, but he wasn't the only one.

"You have some serious explaining to do."

Looking over to Naruto with a raised eyebrow Sasuke was surprised to see him looking back at him somewhat annoyed.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what just happened with Tenten."

Sasuke presumed he was curious about what was inside the box, "She dropped off a scroll."

"You know that is not what I mean!" Naruto raised his voice at this point which caught the attention of a few people walking past them.

Sasuke continued to look back at him in as undisturbed a manner as he always did and it only served to aggravate Naruto. He couldn't understand what Sasuke was up to. Truth be told, Naruto hadn't had that much time to catch up with Sasuke thanks to the work that comes with being Hokage. He was a little concerned that he wasn't paying as much attention to his best friend as he used to and didn't quite know what he might be getting up to.

"What are you trying to say loser?"

Above them a large black hawk shrieked repeatedly as it circled them. Naruto recognised it as one of the official messaging summons.

Hissing under his breathe Naruto cursed the timing of this request for him to return to his office. Quickly turning back to Sasuke he knew he wasn't going to be able to labour his point as much as he'd like to.

Replying to his question Naruto spoke, "What I'm trying to say is you've been back for mere days and you're now spending the night with Tenten? Even if I had the time to discuss this with you now I wouldn't know where to begin!"

Sasuke was full blown frowning now with the lightest of hints of red dusted on his cheekbones. In response he hissed out, "What on earth are you talking about, I didn't spend the night with Tenten." Sasuke was outraged at Naruto's bizarre accusation.

"She literally just said ' _you forgot this last night_ '." Naruto grasped both of his hands in front of himself, pitched his voice much higher and wigged his hips from side to side as if he was made of jelly, mocking a doting woman.

Sasuke questioned Naruto's general fit state and ability to be considered a shinobi, let alone the Hokage, at his disturbing rendition of Tenten. However, he was also slightly concerned that Naruto might know something he didn't.

"She did not do that and what you are implying is obviously baseless."

The hawk flew down at speed towards them and Naruto outstretched his arm to allow it to land. It continued to shriek as it perched on his forearm.

Looking back to Sasuke with a grave expression he said, "It may have been obvious to you but that is not what it looked like to me, or to Sakura."

At the mention of her name Naruto saw Sasuke's posture stiffen slightly.

"Look Sasuke-" Naruto never finished his sentence as the hawk on this arm launched forward and pecked him hard on the side of his head. Naruto cried out.

"Alright! Alright! I'm going!" Naruto clutched his head with his other hand, feeling the distinct warmth of blood on his fingertips. Turning to Sasuke he shrieked, "Oi! Sasuke! I'm bleeding! This bird just made me _bleed_! Can you believe it?"

"I'm just more disappointed that he managed to hit you before I did." Clearly unimpressed with what the blonde was implying.

Wrestling with the bird on his arm Naruto conceded, "Fine! I'm going now! Look see I'm go- _ow stop!_ "

The hawk kept pecking at Naruto as Sasuke watched him jump up to the roof of a nearby building and head towards his office.

Turning back to Ichiraku Sasuke walked over to the stall and asked for the bill for both his and Naruto's meal, since Sakura never ate. As he waited, he looked over to the stool she had sat at and he wondered if Naruto was right about whether his interaction with Tenten would have left the wrong impression on Sakura. He appreciated that Tenten's words could have been chosen more wisely, but there was an element of truth to what she said. Sasuke had spent both the afternoon and evening with her but the implication that they had somehow been intimately involved on that night felt like quite the stretch to him. There was no logic or evidence present that would let you immediately conclude that kind of a situation.

He sighed as he left his money on the receipt placed in front of him and turned to leave Ichiraku. It annoyed him that Naruto had managed to plant these bizarre thoughts in his mind. If it weren't for him he would think nothing of this. Sakura had merely left because she wasn't feeling well. Her forceful request for him not to follow her was undoubtedly because of some element of pride and embarrassment at requiring his help for a second time that day.

Even with that in mind, he glanced to his left as he considered going and pursuing Sakura. He'd seen first-hand that morning that she was incredibly exhausted and over worked, and adding to that, her swift exit to rest and probably work concerned him slightly. His mind drifted to the awkward moment this afternoon where she'd caught him staring at her and he could feel the tips of his ears burn.

Turning right he began to make his way over to the training grounds. Sakura was not a child he needed to smother or chase after to make sure she was okay. She should be more than capable of looking after herself. He tried to convince himself that his decision to go and do some light training had nothing to do with the fluttering irritation of embarrassment nestled in the pit of his stomach. 

* * *

Sakura's fingertip lightly traced the rim of her wine glass as she waited for Ino to return from the restroom. The faint repetitive beat of low music in the background of the bar had her gently swinging her foot from left to right.

After returning to her office that afternoon Sakura threw herself into her work, completely shutting down any part of her mental state that focused on anything else. It was her greatest defense mechanism. Her mind could physically shut away thoughts.

When she realised it was seven in the evening and her office floor was a ghost town she decided to message Ino asking her if she fancied getting a drink. Ino never needed convincing when it came to drinking and within minutes she'd come round to Sakura's office, dragged her home to get changed, and found themselves a cosy table for two and ordered two drinks. Visiting the restroom to wash her hands, Sakura was left at their table mulling over her thoughts as she played with her wine glass.

Ino was walking back to their table and grinned with delight having seen their drinks had arrived.

Sitting down she lifted her wine glass, as did Sakura, and clinked the glasses together with a happy sentiment of 'cheers'.

Both took a light sip of their drinks before Ino asked, "So come on then. Spill. What's the problem?"

"Can't a girl ask her best friend out for a drink or two-"

"Or hopefully twenty." Ino interjected.

Sakura smiled and continued, "… without having some kind of a problem?"

Ino chuckled, "You and I both know that we've only ever hit this bar when we are either drowning away sorrows or trying to get blackout drunk. Pretty sure the bartenders are scared witless at the prospect of us having another 'chair-gate' night."

Sakura's eyes shot up to look at her as she remembered that night, "Let's not talk about that."

Ino grinned and took another sip before sitting back in her chair and folding her arms. Eyebrows raised expectantly as she waited for Sakura to talk.

Sighing Sakura leaned forward with crossed arms on the table. "It's about Sasuke-kun."

Ino silently mocked her best friend knowing full well it could only have ever been about him.

"He had come in for a medical examination the other day and as I saw him leaving the hospital, rather coincidentally at the same time Tenten entered the building too. I was actually pretty excited to see her as I haven't really caught up with Tenten in such a long time."

"I know, me neither. I used to run into her all the time but now it feels like so long since I saw her." Ino interjected.

Sakura lightly nodded, "Well when Tenten came in I was pleasantly surprised and I sort of just stood around, hoping she'd walk over and we could catch up and talk about-"

"You were watching Sasuke from a distance like a stalker weren't you?"

Head dropping for a moment, a dejected Sakura nodded and Ino smiled. Sakura was always remarkably shy about matters of the heart. She never quite knew how to express how she was actually feeling without feeling some kind of shame or embarrassment, as if she was partaking in something taboo. It was something Ino didn't think she'd ever stop doing.

"I wasn't within hearing distance but I could see Tenten and Sasuke talking as they crossed paths. I couldn't really help it but I just kept watching. I mean, have you ever actually seen either of them talk to each other?"

Ino pursed her lips and shook her head and she couldn't recall them ever really interacting.

"Neither could I. That's why when I eventually saw Sasuke leaving the hospital, I was really surprised, because… Tenten turned back around and walked out with him."

Ino raised an eyebrow, "Huh. So she was basically coming by the hospital to meet up with him before they headed off to wherever it was they were going to?"

Sakura nodded and Ino let out a short surprised sigh, "I mean, I grant it to you that that is certainly _odd_ , but I'm not sure it warrants any kind of concern. Sasuke is a different person now with a new set of priorities. The way he interacts with others is bound to be slightly different."

Sakura nodded and stopped talking for a moment as she recalled thinking the same thing.

"Yeah I agree." Taking a deep breathe she continued. "So, Naruto wanted us all to meet for lunch today and he'd dropped Sasuke-kun a message about it. He hadn't messaged me so Sasuke-kun came over to my office to tell me about the lunch."

Ino smirked lightly as she clearly saw through Naruto's little mischievous matching making attempt. She doubt Sakura even noticed the significance of Naruto not messaging her directly.

"Sasuke-kun actually hung around with me in my office for a little bit. It was nice." Sakura blushed slightly as she stared at her wine with soft eyes. "He took a bit of an interest in my medical textbooks and we just sat there together. I was resting because of all hell having broken loose that morning in the hospital and he read my book."

Ino patiently continued to listen but couldn't help the blossoming feeling in her heart as she watched her best friend glow as she adoringly spoke of the man she loved.

"You know, there was even an incident with one of the temporary staff just outside my office. And I know I shouldn't have just blindly rushed to the scene given the state I was in, but I did and he followed suit. I had definitely overdone things that day because I was a total mess after helping the guy out. Sasuke-kun… he helped me back to the office."

Sakura decided not to go into too much detail when it came to her interactions with Sasuke. Whether it was her casually failing to point out to Ino that she carried out Sasuke's medical examination or the fact that Sasuke had carried her back to her office, she just didn't feel too comfortable talking in such detail about these things. They were private and personal and she just felt too shy. So she opted to only tell her the basics, the things she thought were important to mention so that Ino could make an informed judgement.

"Anyway, he helped me back to the office and uh-left. Telling me not to be late for our lunch."

Ino saw the blush on her cheeks spread to the tips of her ears and knew there was something she was holding back. She had no intention to push her for information.

"So later I joined Sasuke-kun and Naruto for lunch, and well it all sorted of fell apart a bit."

Ino frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Kakashi couldn't stay and I ended up leaving early."

"Why did you leave early?" Ino was genuinely surprised.

"Tenten came by."

Sakura looked up to her best friend and could see the surprise flicker across her eyes for less than a second. She chuckled and continued, "She came by and passed over a small box to Sasuke-kun telling him, 'you forgot this _last night'._ "

Ino froze, leaned forward and whispered, "What?"

Sakura full blown laughed now as she leaned back and grabbed her wine glass, taking a larger than necessary gulp.

Ino watched her laugh and drink, and to anyone else Sakura probably looked like she was enjoying herself but she knew better. Reaching for her own drink she composed herself and took a few sips.

"Did he talk about it at all?"

Sakura actually cackled at the question, "Yes he did. He then proceeded to talk about the beautiful birds that were chirping in the sky and how wonderful and powerful mother nature is."

"Alright. Alright. That's enough of that." Ino stopped her friend's sarcastic response to her obvious question.

Sakura stifled her laughs and twirled the glass in her hand before falling silent for a moment, "It's happening isn't it?" She was whispering so softly that Ino almost couldn't hear her.

"What is?"

"My worst nightmare. Sasuke-kun has come back, free of his demons, and he has found someone-"

She stops, and Ino doesn't think it's because she can't find the words, but instead because her throat has physically closed up.

Reaching forward she grasps Sakura's free hand and gives it a tight squeeze.

"Sakura." Ino waits unit her best friend looks up at her. "I don't think you should be this upset."

"Come on Ino."

"I'm serious! Sasuke has almost no experience in interacting with the opposite sex in any other way that wasn't to benefit himself and achieve his goal of killing his brother. He doesn't have that streak within him to suddenly come back and start messing around with a girl."

"I think that's a big assumption."

"And I think you're making an even bigger one thinking he has hooked up with Tenten."

"It's not even the prospect of them hooking up, what if I'm witnessing the start of something. Or, fine, maybe it won't be Tenten but what if it is some other girl who suddenly appears on the scene. What… what am I going to do?"

Ino was glad she reached out to her for a drink because keeping these kind of emotional pains and insecurities inside could turn anyone insane.

Giving another light squeeze to Sakura's hand Ino spoke softly, "I can't tell you what tomorrow will bring, no matter how much I'd like to, but I do know that these kind of hopeless thoughts of the future will hurt you. There is always the chance when it comes to love that you are one of the unlucky ones that has an unrequited love. It sucks, but it happens."

Ino looked away for a moment recalling her own sadness and despair as she gave up on the very same man they were talking about. Truth be told, she knew early on she didn't love him the same way Sakura did, but it hurt no less when she had to let him go.

"The cruel and amazing thing is, life goes on, even after something as horrible as heartbreak. Now, am I saying you've got that lined up for you? Maybe, but it feels unlikely. Could this all turn out to be a misunderstanding? Maybe! The point is you are really overthinking this, being a little impatient and you also seemed to have forgotten that you are gorgeous and incredible and he'd be lucky to have you."

Sakura scoffed in protest and Ino jerked her hand in annoyance, "I will rip your arm off so don't test me because I'm not saying that again."

Sakura laughs and raises her other hand in a gesture of giving up. Ino leans back, drink in hand and takes a sip.

"How do I move past this?" Sakura asks.

"I'm not sure you necessarily move past it. It's only natural to feel hurt and jealous if the guy you like ends up interacting with another girl suspiciously, but that doesn't mean you stop your whole life or give up on him because of it. You know that better than anyone else. Besides, just because someone else is on the scene it shouldn't put you off. You should be fighting for him! I remember your tenacity for trying to win him over back in the day!"

Sakura nodded and chose not to voice the thought that things were very different than the times of their childhood, she'd gone through a lot since those days and sustained some damage, "I think I've just left myself too exposed. I wish I could have pulled back a bit, do you know what I mean?"

Ino smiled, "That's not how true love works."

"Yeah, I suppose you are right."

Ino still thought Sakura looked quite sombre and wasn't too happy about that, but she couldn't just sit across from her best friend and tell her everything would be alright because deep down inside, Ino did think things between Tenten and Sasuke were strange. Sasuke wasn't the type to broadcast any aspect of his life, other than his pursuit of revenge, so there really was the chance that something was going on behind the scenes they didn't know about.

"The point is Sakura, you can't get down and depressed over this. If you two are meant to be, things will work out. If you aren't meant to be, things will still all work out too. It may hurt, in fact I'll correct myself, it will hurt if the suspicions and presumptions turn out to be true, but you have to trust the process, fate, destiny or whatever you want to call it. More importantly, you have to trust yourself."

Sakura realised Ino was right. She'd spent a good number of years chasing after Sasuke, but in those years he wasn't around she thrived. She grew, she learnt and she became a force to be reckoned with. Maybe all of this was a misunderstanding. Maybe it wasn't. Either way she'd become so wrapped up in trying to anticipate the worst case scenario that it was paralysing her today. She'd genuinely enjoyed spending time with Sasuke, but all of that was overshadowed by fear.

There were going to be many trials and tribulations ahead of her in her life and whilst it is good to be on guard and ready, you can't anticipate the future. Life doesn't work that way. So whatever may come, be it sunshine and roses, or heart ache and pain, she would take everything as it came her way and just pray she had the strength to see it all through.

"Yoo-who! Bartender! Could we have another round of drinks?" Ino yelled over to the bartender who clearly recognised them both the second they'd walked in. Ino raised her full palm, out stretched, and mouthed the words, ' _five more rounds'_ hoping the bartender understood her subtle attempts.

Sakura promptly grabbed her hand and lowered it turning to the bartender and shaking her own head, "Just one more round please, thank you."

Turning back to Ino they both laughed. Sakura added, "Ino, it's a working night."

"That did stop us on 'chair-gate' night, did it?".

Both ladies laughed as a waitress served them their next set of drinks. She glanced over to her colleague bartender who looked as white as a sheet of paper as she approached the bar. Curious to his bizarre behaviour with regards to the last two women she had served, she asked, "What happened the last time these two came to this bar?"

Never taking his eyes off of the blonde and pink-haired ladies as they sipped their drinks, he swallowed a large lump in his throat and began to sweat. His fists pressed down hard on the main bar as he whispered back a reply, voice breaking slightly as he spoke.

" _Things_ …things that should never be spoken of."

* * *

Where would any of us be without our friend(s)?

So here was your next update and I do hope you enjoyed it! Total side note, even though I've jokingly written about a wild night that Sakura and Ino have had, I myself do not drink, it is definitely not my thing haha!

Trying my level best to write this fiction any time I can spare a moment or two. At my desk at work, before I sleep, on public transport, etc. So I'm hoping it won't take me long to update! As always I'd love to know what you guys thought and thank you to everyone who is continuing to read this story. I'm very grateful.

Speaking of which, a humongous **thank you** to the following people who left me the nicest, sweetest and most enjoyable reviews!

 **chica-flick:** Yep! Don't you just love a good cliff-hanger? Haha! Thank you for reviewing!

 **sasusakusara7:** Thank you for reading my story! Yes I think we're all rooting for these two to somehow get back on track! Let's keep our fingers crossed!

 **Guest (23 June):** Thank you! I do hope you enjoyed this chapter.

 **CantFigureOutAUsername94:** Thank you for reading! Hope you liked the chapter!

 **Candida:** Ooh, very good guess but no, sadly Sasuke didn't end up pursuing her. He is a silly boy who doesn't know how to handle a woman. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **K4terMurr:** Your review was so nice and unbelievably flattering, thank you so much! Yeah, I actually didn't want to throw in that Sasuke-supporting-Sakura scene too early in the story but I did need to somehow lay the tiniest bit of groundwork. After all, Sakura is so kickass she rarely would ever need that kind of support! And I'm glad the medical referencing is coming out well, did so much medical googling I practically feel like a doctor haha! And as for the bold formatting, that is odd, I asked my friend to view the story from her computer and tablet and she couldn't see it in bold. I hope it doesn't keep coming up bold for you going forward, do let me know if it does. I do also hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

 **Annvity:** Thank you so much! You are so unbelievably sweet and nice to say that about my story. I can't thank you enough! I hope I won't take too long between updates so I don't keep you waiting too long! Also, don't you think there is a distinct lacking in the number of SasuSaku stories in the blank period on fanfiction? That's part of the reason I wanted to write this story so badly!

Until next time everyone!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chance: Chapter 7**

"So that is why I'd like to propose this new system to Shizune-san. I really think it'll cut waiting times and free up some rooms that are being booked up and left unused. Of course I'm not going to suggest rolling this out all over the hospital but just in the Orthopaedic department first, as a trial. Do you think Shizune-san would consider trialling this out Haruno-san?... Haruno-san?"

Sakura snapped her head up from the papers scattered in front of her to face her colleague Nako who was sitting opposite her.

Early this morning Nako had called Sakura to once again apologise for not being able to have a nurse within her team that was professional enough to medically assess Sasuke but also to ask for her professional opinion on a new proposal she wanted to submit to Shizune. Always wishing to help, Sakura agreed and they both met on the top floor of the hospital at one of the breakout tables.

Konoha Hospital had recently refurbished its top floor into a strictly staff only meeting and relaxing area. Arguably it was less of a refurbishment and more a repair as the top floor had unfortunately suffered substantial damage during the war. It was now furnished with a long and large canteen with multiple tables to either eat at or to provide an area for less formal meetings between staff to occur. Staff had informally deemed the area as 'the breakout area'. The walls and ceiling had been entirely removed and replaced with toughened glass allowing it to have the wonderful effect of feeling as though one was standing on a roof with no borders.

On sunny summer days, it felt like a holiday resort and many of the staff rejoiced at the refurbishment. This particular Friday however the weather had taken a little bit of a turn for the worse and it was mostly overcast.

At the table they both sat at, Nako had laid out all the figures and charts of her new proposal as she then verbally delivered her proposal to Sakura. Somewhere along the lines during Nako's fast-paced explanation Sakura had accidentally drifted off into a somewhat sombre daydream as she stared down at the notes presented to her. She was reflecting on all the recent occurrences surrounding Sasuke and Tenten.

"I apologise Nako-san, it's been a difficult week." Sakura humbly apologised as she felt bad for not paying more attention.

Nako leaned back in her chair and reached for her cup of tea. Brushing her hand through her own hair she smiled sadly and looked over to her right to gaze through the impressive glass walls at Konoha.

"Please don't apologise. I called you out with no advanced warning, you've been incredibly over-worked recently and it certainly doesn't help that I was talking to you at the speed of light. I have a habit of doing that when I'm nervous. The icing on the cake is that a lot of what I said actually contradicts the slides in front of you."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her remarkably honest response. Turning her own head, she too looked out and over to the rooftops of Konoha.

"Why did you call me out then to listen and review if you knew you'd be inconsistent and contradictory?"

Nako didn't look back to Sakura as she kept gazing outward and softly replied, "I guess I just needed someone to tell me the ugly and painful truth of my current situation."

Sakura's breath hitched in her throat. She couldn't help but relate what Nako just said to her own predicament. Wasn't she too just avoiding all the signs about Sasuke and Tenten? Didn't she reach out to Ino last night with a subtle sadistic hope that she would confirm that her worst nightmare was in fact a reality?

"I'm not ready to present to Shizune, not by a long way. But… but I think I'm just scared to show her my work. If she rejects my idea then what does that say about me? All this effort I've put in only to have it thrown back in my face."

"So you purposefully decide to sabotage your presentation to me so that I will very obviously tell you not to present to her, thus saving you the risk of having your proposal flatly rejected by her. Am I right?"

Nako now turned to look back at Sakura and gave her a very weak smile. It was moments like these that Sakura remembered how much the junior in front of her lacked real-life working experience. Her promotion to managing staff did come as a surprise to Sakura when she'd heard about it but she thought Nako had an edge about her that could mean she could handle the responsibility, if she tried hard enough. Yet another surprise for Sakura was to witness these insecurities she possessed about her own work.

"If I can be frank with you Nako, there is not much room for anxieties in this line of work. Self-doubt can often be the difference between life and death. If you can try, I'd advise you to take some time to review your proposal again, record yourself if you have to, and keep running through it to the point where you've rid yourself of these insecurities. Oh, and obviously get the numbers completely right."

Sakura shifted some of the papers in front of her and picked out three sheets in particular. Sliding them over to Nako she said, "Whilst I might not be as 'alert' as I usually am, I think I know this hospital's statistics and finances well enough to know these are incomplete sheets of data."

Nako was quietly incredibly impressed. There must have been well over a hundred rows of data on those sheets and yet Sakura had noticed that they were skewed, manipulated and also incomplete. Looking up to her senior Nako blushed. She was beginning to realise how much more superior Sakura was in terms of her knowledge and business acumen even with only a few years gap in their respective ages. About five minutes into her speech to Sakura, Nako had concluded that Sakura wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention and that was a poor assumption on her part.

"Is it the first time you're submitting a proposal to Shizune?"

Nako gathered her papers and nodded.

"It can be a scary process. When you feel more confident about everything drop me a message and I'll promise to give you my entire attention and strictest of feedbacks."

Nako smiled and sat up straight hugging her papers together, "Thank you Sakura-san! I mean- Haruno-san!"

Sakura smiled as they both stood up, bringing their unplanned rendezvous to a close. Nako politely bowed as she intended on turning and leaving. Just before doing so she cast a glance back over to Sakura.

"Haruno-san?"

"Yes?"

"I know I might be over stepping a boundary here, so forgive me if I am but…"

Sakura frowned as she watched the young woman fidget before her.

"Is everything quite alright?"

Sakura was taken aback at her question, "What do you mean?"

Clearly very flustered Nako began to wave a hand about, "I just get the feeling something isn't quite right and I don't mean to pry but- but if there is anything else I can do to help please don't hesitate to ask me!"

Nako promptly bowed again and ran away. Sakura watched her run off with a sad smile gracing her own lips. She knew she was anything but alright but somehow she was going to have to draw out all her emotional and mental strength to make it through this uncertain time.

Rolling her shoulders once she leaned her head back and stared up to the grey and murky looking clouds above her. Drawing in a long deep breath she focused her mind on all the on-going work she needed to address.

Her thoughts were broken by the familiar and repeated humming of her pager. Walking towards the elevators to go back to her own office she reached for the device to read the message. Approaching the elevator someone else had already pressed the button to go downstairs letting her focus on reading her message which she now knew was from Naruto. It was odd for him to message her on this device.

 _Come over now for a tea break. Stop over working yourself. Sasuke is coming too._

As the elevator doors opened she and the other member of staff stepped in. The young lady recognising Sakura pressed her floor number as well as her own button in a polite gesture of respect. Sakura smiled and thanked the lady as the elevator doors shut and they descended.

Sakura hoped it was the combination of a light hangover, being over worked and the motion of the elevator that was making her feel so uneasy.

Sasuke wipped away a bead of sweat that trickled down the side of his forehead with his wrist as he stood up from his crouched position. Lifting the cloth that covered both his eyes he looked at the five targets he placed all around him to see the accuracy of his strikes.

At first glance it seemed that most of the strikes from his new shorter sword appeared to make near perfect contact. As he walked closer to one wooden target he reached out, sword lightly held between two fingers, and traced the slash in the wood with his free fingers. Upon closer inspection he could tell that the cut was neither as clean nor shallow as he expected it to be. Furthermore he noticed that the angle of the slash was a little steeper than he intended.

Stepping back he shifted his gaze to the shorter sword in his hand and realised he was going to need to practice a lot more.

Up above the calls from his hawk took his attention as it gracefully swooped down and landed on his wrist. He plucked the small piece of paper that was encased on its ankle and slowly flicked his wrist signalling the hawk could leave.

"Ugh that loser's handwriting will be the death of us all."

Focusing hard on the paper before him he managed to make out the following message.

 _Come have a break at my office. And don't be late, you'll keep Sakura-chan waiting._

Gently folding the paper away he pondered how he was still rather unsure about his opinion on Sakura's sudden departure yesterday after lunch. If it wasn't for Naruto's ridiculous claims he thought he wouldn't feel so uneasy. Granted he was concerned for her health but she was Konoha's finest healer, she didn't need looking after. Feelings of embarrassment resurfaced as he remembered his suggestion to walk her back to her office. Thoughts of his mother flooded his mind at the time as she got up to leave their lunch and he acted in a manner that was more emotional than logical. That seemed to happen a lot more the more he was around her.

Lifting the wooden targets up he began to clear away his practice equipment. Once that was done he made his way over to the Hokage's office.

As he walked out of the training grounds and moved closer and closer to the hustle and bustle within Konoha's main town centre he found himself the subject of some scrutiny. The sideways glances and hushed whispers were noticeably less than the first two days he arrived back in the village and he found that promising. If he had to guess he thought he'd have been heckled or been the biggest political topic for a month or so, however contrary to this the gossip had been more private and less prominent.

As the Hokage's offices came into view, he found himself reflecting on how it was a testimony to the efforts of Naruto, and to some extent Sakura, that his return was a lot less chaotic than he expected. Naruto had exerted a lot of influence politically and having a prominent figure from the hospital like Sakura also showing her support for his return instilled a lot more trust and acceptance. It left him feeling both somewhat unworthy of all their efforts and determined to not let their hard work go to waste. He would do his best to continue to prove his allegiance was to securing a safe and peacefully future for the entire world.

"Sasuke!"

His name was called out, just as he was a stone's throw away from the entrance of the Hokage's building. Looking over to his right he saw Tenten waving to him and appearing to change her direction to back track over to Sasuke.

"How is everything going?" She asked, stopping just in front of him with both her arms crossed in front of her.

"Not bad thank you."

Tenten notices his complexion was slightly redder than usual and she grins like a Cheshire cat. Uncrossing her arms she lightly elbows his chest a couple of times, "You look a little red, I had no idea running into me had _such_ an effect on you."

Sasuke lightly chuckled and shook his head once, "You've obviously been hanging around Naruto far too much if that's your idea of a funny joke."

Faking a look of offence and shock Tenten raise her hand now to her throat, "I am offended. I happen to think my sense of humour is the finest this village has ever seen!"

"Your sense of 'humour' is about as great as your mercifulness as a sensei. Speaking of which, how is your pupil Kousuke, still in Konoha Hospital?"

Wincing slightly as he mentioned her understudy, Tenten chuckled and scratched the back of her head, "He's still recovering. I'm actually going to go visit him now."

"So you should."

"It's not like I meant to hit him that hard!" Tenten protested.

"What exactly did you think would happen when you swung your fist towards his face at that kind of speed?"

Stepping closer to Sasuke Tenten raised her right hand slowly towards the side of Sasuke's head, "You've got it all wrong, all I was going to do is give him a light tap. A congratulatory tap! See just like this!"

Her hand lightly tapped the side of Sasuke's head and stayed there as he stared down at her with bemusement to see a wide grin plastered across her face. Truly she had a cheekiness about her that reminded him of his best friend. Unfortunately, whether it was Naruto or Tenten, this kind of proximity never ceased to make him uncomfortable, especially since her well-trained hand still remained right beside his head. She was altogether far too close to him and he noticed her entire body was perhaps centimetres away from his.

As if he had been hit by a merciless attack, his attention suddenly shifted to his right. Holding his breathe and honing in all his senses his eyes scoured across the view before him. What was this feeling that coursed through him? Stepping back from Tenten and frowning his eyes continued to furiously scan the crowds around them as he searched for the source of this unease. It was touching distance from him, the tips of his fingers could almost feel distress in the air.

"Sasuke?"

Turning back to look at Tenten he checked to see if she had picked up on anything. Her confused face showed him he was alone in this bizarre occurrence. Turning his head again he looked through the crowds but to no avail. Nothing was amiss.

"Sasuke? What is it?" Tenten repeated herself, now she was beginning to look around and was clearly more tense and on edge.

"It's nothing. Think nothing of it."

Tenten stared at him for a little longer but decided to give up. Sighing she stepped back slightly with a hand on her hip, shifting her weight to one foot.

"What brings you here then? Are you seeing Naruto?"

"Yes, I'm taking a short break with him and Sakura."

"What about Sai? Is he still not back yet?"

"No he isn't."

Sai had been sent on a reconnaissance mission that was due to go through Sand and Sound. He knew Tenten wasn't aware of what was going on, just that he was out there gathering information. It was not a mission that many people knew about and it was better it stayed that way.

"It's really nice that you all hang out, and so frequently too! First yesterday's lunch and now today's lunch! What gives?"

"Ah, Kakashi and Sakura left early yesterday."

"Classic Kakashi. Where there's a need to pull the mask down, he disappears like the wind. Why did Sakura leave early?"

Sasuke shifted slightly from foot to foot, his eyes gazing over the citizens that were walking around them. It was a question that struck a nerve. "She wasn't feeling too well so she excused herself."

Tenten squinted her eyes at him and he simply stared back at her expressionless.

"Your first team lunch and she bails feeling ill? I'm not buying it. For the brief few moments that I passed by you guys she didn't exactly look unwell to me."

"You're not a medic to comment on that are you?"

Shrugging her shoulders she stepped back, bit her lips together and then proceeded to let out a short but bitter laugh.

"No. As much as I'd wish I was, I'm certainly not a medic."

Sasuke noticed the shift in her playful attitude to one that was almost remorseful and sad. Clearly he'd been a little too short with her, or he himself had also hit a nerve. That was obviously never his intention, Tenten had been very supportive on his return and offending her was the last thing he wanted to do. Little did many people know but he was immensely grateful for the help she had been providing him behind the scenes.

"Look. Sasuke. I didn't mean to pry or anything. Clearly I'm talking without a filter on right now so I apologise."

Sighing heavily she was now looking incredibly downcast and upset. He was surprised his shortness upset her so much and was struggling to find the words to stop her feeling like that. Opening his mouth to try and move the conversation elsewhere Tenten continued.

"Hearing you talk about team lunches, about being a medic, it just all reminds me so much about my own team. About Neji."

Sasuke's upper body tensed and he felt like a fool for not seeing the connection. He remembered hearing the news about the loss of Neji. It was a shock, even for him. He remembered Neji as being a very skilled shinobi who Sasuke had always kept in the back of his mind as a target for motivation. As Sasuke trained in Orochimaru's underground hideout, Neji had often crossed his mind as being a good candidate to test his up and coming strength.

"Tenten-"

"Learn from my mistakes Sasuke. Please." Tenten interrupted him. She didn't want him to apologise for this. She knew about the guilt he carried within him.

"I live with this kind of regret that has no mercy. To have had so many days and missions with him and to have still left so much unsaid. How foolish could I have been? I'm a ninja. There is absolutely no guarantee of having a tomorrow. Yet I remained a coward, never having the bravery to confront him and convey my thoughts and feelings to him."

She stopped. Her emotions were slowly overcoming her and she refused to let them takeover. Looking down now she took a deep breathe in.

With the ferocity of a wild animal she looked up to Sasuke and reached forward to firmly grasp his shoulder, "Don't forget to seize the moments as they arise Sasuke."

Not really knowing what to say Sasuke simply nodded. He understood what she was saying and not being the best at articulating things he hoped she understood that as he stood there before her in compassion and solidarity.

She smiled, patting his shoulder as she released it and turned to walk away.

Yelling over her shoulder she called out, "See you later! Say hi to Naruto and Sakura from me!"

Smirking he called back out to her, "Try not to leave Kousuke any more injured than he is already."

Sticking her tongue out at him she turned and started with a light sprint away from him. He chuckled and shook his head, she really was hanging out with Naruto far too much.

Speaking of which he turned back to the office before him and entered to go and see Naruto. Navigating his way towards the emergency stairwell he began to climb the concrete steps to his office, all the while Tenten's words echoed over and over in his mind. What did the people around him mean to him? If someone told him today that he could never see Naruto or Sakura again, what would be the things that he had left unsaid?

Pushing the heavy emergency fire door open he stepped out on to Naruto's floor. Walking over to his office he hesitated for just a moment before knocking, clearing his mind of these deeper thoughts.

Naruto called out to him after he knocked twice and he entered. Closing the doors shut behind him he turned around to notice that Sakura wasn't there.

Naruto sighed and threw his pager rather aggressively onto his desk. "Hey Sasuke. Looks like my attempt at getting the three of us to hang out for a break failed."

"What do you mean?"

Naruto walked over to his panoramic windows and gazed over the village. "Sakura messaged saying she couldn't make it because there was too much work to do by the end of the day at the hospital."

Sighing and running a hand over his face Naruto began to whine like a child. Turning to Sasuke he said, "This means I don't get a break either. Any second now I'm going to have Shikamaru burst through those doors and dump a pile of paperwork as tall as me on my desk!"

"Well it's a good thing you're so short then isn't it?"

"Not funny."

Turning around, Sasuke began to reach out for the door handle.

"Oi, where are you going? Don't abandon me, stay and hang out!"

"Do your work Naruto, God only knows how this village is still standing if you are still resisting your basic daily responsibilities like this." Sasuke had opened the door and began to exit.

"What is that?"

Turning back to Naruto, mid-way through the door, Sasuke replied, "What is what?"

"That! Is that a red hairband on your wrist? That's a little bit of a girlie colour for you isn't it? Just go get your hair cut, God knows you really need one."

Sasuke looked down to his wrist, at Sakura's hairband that he had accidentally taken from her office. He hadn't even realised that he had not removed the item from his wrist last night.

"Since when did hair accessories become items that you give such interest to?" Sasuke was in no mood to discuss this with Naruto right now, especially since he could feel his cheeks burning ever so slightly. Right now he had to iron out his own thoughts that were somewhat scattered after his brief encounter with Tenten.

Naruto said nothing. He blinked, simply nodded his head and watched as Sasuke walked out of his office. As the doors closed Naruto moved to his office chair and sat down with a loud thud. Lacing his fingers together and gripping them firmly, his mind went round in circles courtesy of his final observation of a certain, obviously female, hair accessory.

Meanwhile Sasuke had already left the Hokage's office and was standing outside its front doors at the very spot he had run into Tenten. He contemplated her advice as he raised his hand and looked at the hairband wrapped around his wrist. There it was again, this sensation to act upon emotion rather than logic. His body was almost leading itself without his instruction and he knew where it wanted to go.

 _Seize the moments as they arise_.

With no further thought he began to walk towards Konoha hospital. As he began walking through the busy crowds he grew frustrated at their slow pace. Side stepping to the edge of the main road he slipped between two small buildings and with a seemingly light push he jumped up. Pushing incrementally off of the walls he stood between, he rose towards the top of the buildings. With grace he landed on the rooftop and proceeded to jump from one roof to another until he landed just in front of the hospital. With stealth so as to not alarm anyone around the hospital he slid down and landed behind the building before walking around and then entered the hospital.

As he entered he noticed it was busy. Even during peaceful times this establishment never seemed to stop working.

"Uchiha-san?"

Turning he saw a young woman standing before him dressed in a member of staff's uniform and a clipboard to hand. He didn't recognise her.

"I- um - I'm sorry, forgive me for not introducing myself, my name is Hiragara Nako, I'm a colleague of Haruno-san."

He nodded to formally greet her.

As soon as Sasuke had stepped into the hospital Nako had spotted him by chance and saw an opportunity to make right her previous failings. She knew Sasuke had not managed to have a full medical examination because of the time wasted trying to find someone to assess him. Perhaps she could finally put that mistake right and finish off the examination.

What she did not anticipate at all was to have her determination and courage take a hit as she got closer to him. He was by far the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. Towering over her she noted his broad shoulders, black eyes the darkest shade she'd ever seen, skin in contrast with a pale milky shade that seemed so smooth to the touch and hair as dark as his eyes.

Her mind drew a blank and caving under the pressure of his alluring gaze she begged herself to speak and say anything.

"Are you here visiting a patient?" Her voice came out embarrassingly high pitched as she asked.

"No, I'm going to speak to Sakura."

"Oh. Sakura isn't here."

Sasuke frowned, "What?"

"Yes, she rang in and got one of the administrators to re-arrange all her afternoon appointments to next week about 15 minutes or so ago."

Sasuke starred down at Nako, looking at her but not really seeing her as he processed her words.

"Uchiha-san? Is there something perhaps I can help you with instead?"

"No. Excuse me."

Swiftly he turned and left the hospital and continued to walk with no destination in mind. He felt the adrenaline leaving his system and instead he was left with a cold and stark realisation that left a tight uncomfortable sensation within him.

Haruno Sakura was actively avoiding his company.

 _Ten minutes earlier._

No one knew she was in her office, she had sent a message to the hospital via her pager telling her secretary that she had to re-arrange all her work into the following week as she wasn't coming back to the hospital for the rest of the day. When her secretary tried to ask why she simply avoided her question.

In her dark office Sakura hunched over, head hanging down as her palms and knees supported her up. She was struggling to breath, her heart hammered in her chest so loudly she couldn't hear her own painful laboured breaths wheezing out of her lungs as tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

One hand moved up to her throat, clawing at her neck again and again and without realising she had cut her skin and drawn blood. Completely collapsing on her side on the floor her body shook as she cried. She clamped a hand on her mouth she tried to muffle her cries. How her body yearned to just scream out until her lungs were sore.

Moment ago, as she turned around a street corner, just as the Hokage's office was within sight, she saw her darkest fear become reality.

Even from the distance Sakura could see them standing before one another as Tenten gently caressed and held his beautiful face. Sasuke's eyes were soft and caring as they looked down upon Tenten.

In that moment, Sakura experienced an overflowing sense of pain, anger, fear and panic. Her mind closed off and her body reacted. Chakara spiking as her physical self shot masses of adrenaline through her veins and prepared her for either fight or flight. Within a second she pushed away and disappeared back down the route she came from. Running as fast as she could, she began to cry with her tears having no time to set on her face, instead she left behind a trail of glistening tears.

That was how she ended up sneaking into her own office, cancelling her work appointments and laying there on the floor crying at the knowledge that after all these years, after giving all of her love to him, he had decided to look elsewhere.

Sasuke may have left the village with the possibility of returning to her but clearly he'd changed his mind. She wasn't worthy of him and she couldn't understand why. How much would she have to give, what did she have to do to before he understood the depth of her love for him? What did Tenten have that she didn't possess?

Rolling on to her back, her lips were slightly parted and her chest now shook ever so slightly every three seconds or so. Her vision was becoming clearer as the tears slowly stopped coming. She felt like she'd just survived a fatal attack but she was left marred with untreated wounds still threatening her existence.

As she stared up to her ceiling in her dark room she felt the faint buzzing of her pager that was attached to her waist.

She didn't move a muscle.

Whatever it was, whoever it was, they were going to have to find a way to survive without her because she was in no state to help anyone right now with anything.

A small sob escaped her lips as she realised how much his decision to reject her would taint the rest of her life. There would be no one else for her but him and that meant she was destined to be alone. As friends coupled up, celebrated weddings, gave birth to their descendants she was to watch from the side lines, congratulating but never being congratulated.

The buzzing on her pager continued and this time she raised her hand to lift the device and see who it was that she was letting down in this moment.

Naruto's name flashed repeatedly on the tiny screen and guilt weighed heavily on her chest.

She re-clipped the pager back down on her trouser's waistline and slowly rolled over to lift herself up. Looking around slightly dazed in the dark room she walked over to her gym bag that was stowed under her desk. She pulled out of her bag a dark black hoodie and wore it, throwing the hood up and ensuring her pink hair wasn't slipping out. Turning around she cautiously slipped out of her window and quickly headed back to her apartment.

Everywhere she looked she saw memories of Sasuke. Whether it was streets that they'd walked through or places they'd had small missions she began to feeling her eyes sting again as tears threatened to fall.

As she finally reached her apartment block and climbed her stairwell to reach her floor she hadn't noticed a figure looking at her. He approached her, watching as she was fumbling around with keys in her hand. Her hands shook, clearly her body was exhausted.

"Yo."

In fright, Sakura dropped her keys and whirled around towards the source of sound.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he witnessed the state she was in.

Her eyes were blood shot red, cheeks stained with tear tracks, breathe heavily laboured and her arms and legs shook.

"Kakashi." She bowed her head down, not in a respectful manner but in relief that it was him.

"Sakura. What is-"

"What brings you here?" She interrupted him. Her head was still looking down even after she'd scooped up her keys from the ground.

Tentatively, Kakashi took a few steps closer to her, speaking as he crossed the distance between them. "My shoulder has been giving me grief, I was coming by to ask you for help healing me. You know I hate going to the hospital…"

He stopped right before her hunched form, he was waiting for her to look up at him.

"Kakashi. I'm – I'm not sure now is a good time."

"Sakura. What is going on?"

As it was before her very eyes, she could see Sasuke standing in front of the Uchiha district's entrance, his fingers laced with Tenten's as they stood side by aside, gazing at each other adoringly.

Wincing at the thought she turned away from Kakashi abruptly and a hand went to her mouth.

"Sakura-"

"Kakashi, I'm sorry but I'm not feeling so good. Please can I see to you tomorrow?"

Kakashi leaned to his right as he tried to catch a glimpse of her face as she hurriedly used her keys and unlocked her door.

Like lighting Kakashi moved quickly and snatched her wrist that remained firmly gripping the door.

Sakura froze, her breathing hitched and she could sense him coming closer to her. Kakashi's other hand was moving to her hood, wishing to remove it and look her dead in the eye as he spoke to her.

"Kakashi…"

He froze, slowly he watched her head turn towards him. Half of her face looked up to him as the other half remained blocked and covered by the edge of her hoodie. His breathe caught in his throat and his eyes widened as he looked down at her. Biting her lips together painfully hard and the lone eye that was visible to him was completely glazed over as fresh tears made their way down her cheek. She looked like she was physically in pain.

"Please don't…"

Her broken voice struck him hard in his heart and unconsciously he released her hand and stepped back.

"I'll come find you tomorrow. Forgive me." With that she entered her flat and closed the door behind her.

Kakashi starred in utter confusion and horror as he heard her loud cries from the other side of the door.

* * *

(I won't lie. This was hard for me to write because I decided to draw on my own experiences in having my heart broken into a million pieces. I can't tell you how many times I've re-written this in my attempts to not let this get too dark but at the same time, heartbreak is dark. Especially for characters like Sakura or myself, who love with all they have. I hope the emotion came across well to you all…)

On a happier note, it is good to be back everyone. It's been one hell of a ride for me the last 4 months. I went on two very spontaneous holidays which were wonderful and I'm so grateful I got to have that much fun this year. Sadly, when I got back home I instantly caught a cold which turned into a nasty chest infection. I lost my voice, breathing was impossible with my messed up sinuses and coughing felt like knives in my lungs. Fast forward 3 months and here I am almost 100% fit and healthy thank God! (I just have a tiny cough left over but it's not so bad). So I apologise for disappearing, I just had zero energy to be able to type, proof and post.

Anyway I'm back now and I truly missed you all so much! I'm really looking forward to hearing what you all think of the chapter! It's quite long, and I was thinking of turning it into a seriously heavy cliffhanger but I felt so bad because I'd gone MIA! Haha!

Can't wait to hear from you all!

x


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